Pale Horse, Pale Rider
by palomino333
Summary: Sequel to Monophobia. Season 4 AU set directly after the Illusionary Duel. "Here I stand, in the middle of a desert with a man without a name. I ask him what we have learned. He tells me, 'Nothing.'" Regalshipping, Peachshipping, discussed Revolutionshipping.
1. Chapter 1

Alternate titles I considered for this story: "Ghost Town," and "Atychiphobia (fear of failure)." Originally, this was going to be a one-shot, but the story became too long.

This story is an alternate universe, in that I'm stretching the timeline of the Doma arc somewhat by moving Seto Kaiba's duel with Amelda backward to allow this story to continue. I noticed that not much was done with Doma becoming the controlling force behind the world's economy and governments. Along with that, not much was shown of Doma taking the souls of people on Earth as the Leviathan's hour draws near, rather only a mention of it is made on the news in the show. I wanted to take that concept, and run with it. Locke and the other named officers are my characters.

Police code that wasn't translated by Anzu: "What's your status?"

* * *

A low-pitched squawk pierced the air, causing Yami no Yugi to raise his head. Shielding his eyes against the blinding sunlight with his arm, he watched a massive bird with a wide wingspan, silhouetted against the sun, circle overhead.

"I wonder how active this train line is," Anzu commented from beside him, her shoes clacking over the metal tracks, "If a train comes by, we could try to signal for help."

Yami no Yugi shook his head. "It wouldn't be able to brake quickly enough for us."

"Speaking of which," she commented, "I've wondered about what happened to those other people on our train. I wonder if they were even real, as they had vanished so quickly. There weren't even bodies left behind."

"That I'm not sure on," he replied carefully, "But, after seeing Yugi again," he continued with an amount of pain in his voice, "I have a theory about it." Swiping a hand across her brow, Anzu listened attentively as he explained, "We know that the Seal of Orichalcos brings to life the monsters in a duel, similarly to a Shadow Game. I think that, in some way, the same was done with those people on the train."

"A projection?" Anzu asked, thinking this over. With a gasp, she exclaimed, "No, not projections! Souls!"

Yami no Yugi nodded gravely. "The souls captured by the Seal of Orichalcos. Correct."

Anzu shook her head. "That doesn't make sense, though. Why didn't one of them try to warn us? How could you not detect them? When you dueled Yugi, he thought for himself."

"That was with Ironheart's influence. He was probably blocking Dartz," he replied with the hint of sadness still in his voice, "I couldn't hear Yugi's voice in my mind throughout the duel proper, therefore I knew he was still sealed away. Outside of Ironheart's control, if I'm correct, it's likely that Dartz is able to puppeteer the souls he has captured at will."

Anzu covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh, those poor people."

His fist clenched at his side, and he turned away, deciding against voicing the possibility of Yugi being controlled by Dartz in that manner, as well. "Most likely, Dartz was just toying with us again, and it proved a good trap."

Dropping her hand, Anzu shook her head. "And at that, we're already foreigners in this country. If we go missing, well…" Her voice trailed off, and she opted to change the subject by reaching to her side, and uncapping the canteen of water Ironheart had given her. "Thirsty?"

Yami no Yugi waved it away. "How long can a human go without water, again?"

"Three days," she replied, resealing it, "We'll need it purified, as well, otherwise it won't be safe. Chris left me some flint in my backpack, and I can use the scrub bush here as tinder. Problem is, I couldn't possibly fit a kettle in this bag, so I'm still not sure how I'd be able to boil it. " She shook her head. "If the four of us go days without reaching a town, we could be in serious trouble. Although," she smiled at him, "I don't think you'd intend for us to be wandering around here for that long."

Yami no Yugi returned it, and pointed off into the distance. "I don't think that's a mirage."

Shielding her eyes, Anzu followed his finger, and replied in relief, "No, I can see it, too. Looks like the tops of buildings." She lowered her hand. "If it's a train town, maybe we'll be able to get some information on when the next train is running. We can also ask around for Honda and Jonouchi."

He nodded, and they quickened their pace, Anzu becoming chattier with her excitement, tugging at her hair. 'I'm not sure who we should talk to first. The police, I guess, since they tend to handle missing persons cases? It's a good thing I didn't lose my passport. You still have Yugi's?" He nodded, patting the pocket of his jacket. Anzu sighed. "Okay, crisis averted. But what are we going to say, really? 'Hey, we were on this train that derailed, and everyone's gone missing except for a couple of guys?'" She grimaced. "Probably not believable. Or maybe we should ask at the train station, and see if anyone's heard anything about it?" She looked back over her shoulder. "Then again, I should've asked Ironheart about the town where he left Haga. On the other hand, we were more worried about other things at that point in time." She put her hand to her head. "You know, I think I just realized that none of us seem to think things through very well."

Yami no Yugi surprised her by laughing. "Well, we are all only teenagers, Anzu. I'd be surprised otherwise."

She paused for a moment before nudging him playfully and rushing forward. Turning her head back, she called over shoulder, "Come and catch me, old man!" Smirking, he darted after her. Anzu laughed, and hurried on, allowing herself to be caught up in the moment, and to just think that they were a couple of kids having fun on vacation. When he grabbed her arm, she stopped, and raised her hands in the air. "All right, all right, Pharaoh, I give." The two paused to catch their breath, sharing the canteen for a moment. Glancing up, Anzu noted, "I guess it was a train town, after all."

The set of buildings closest to them appeared to be rather old station platforms, albeit rather sparse ones. The train track split off to run through the station. Anzu glanced about. "Shouldn't there be a guard or maintenance worker here? If we climb on there without tickets, we may as well be getting a free ride," craning her neck to the side, she read the rusting sign hanging over the station, ''Welcome to Blackroot.'" The desert wind whistled, and a piece of metal whined as it swung back and forth.

Yami no Yugi glanced to the side, his gaze sharpening as the wind died down. "Do you hear that, Anzu?"

"What?" She asked, stepping closer to glance about for anyone on the platform. "Why isn't anyone here? Sunset is still a way off."

Something banged hollowly as he replied, "A low droning noise."

"Helicopter?" She offered.

He shook his head, glancing up at the speakers mounted on the station's slanting roof. "I think it's coming from them."

Cupping a hand to her ear, and narrowing her eyes, she concentrated until she could hear a low thrumming noise. "Sounds like audio feedback. Whatever is connected to the speakers must've been taken offline." Her voice dropped in discouragement, and she backed away from the platform. "We should look around first before we jump to any conclusions, though."

Nodding his head, he led the way around the side of the building. Yami no Yugi had no idea exactly what he was expecting to find when he turned the corner. Honda and Jonouchi waving at them? Otogi sticking his head out of the pick-up truck's driver side window, and calling for them to get in? Rafael coldly staring at him, with Guardian Eatos in his hand? …Yugi greeting him with a warm smile? Perhaps that was why it was a little jarring to see a deserted road leading into the station. There were buildings clustered along the road, which opened further into side streets that held houses and miscellaneous businesses and power plants. Telephone poles towered over the streets, the buildings distorted by heatwaves. Off in the distance, a highway shimmered.

"What's wrong?" Anzu asked, coming to stand next to him.

He shrugged. "If you want civilization, we've found it."

She grinned at the sight, and reached into her pocket. "Let's see, how much money do I have for food? I'm starving." She blanched, realizing how close to Honda and Jonouchi she sounded, and quickly amended, "Er, not that that's a priority or anything. We gotta find the others first." Glancing behind herself, she remarked, "Strange, if no one's at the station, why's the gate down?" Following her pointer finger, Yami no Yugi stared at the peculiar sight for a moment.

The next, however, his eyes widened, and his breath caught. "That's why," he responded quietly, indicating a limp arm hanging out from a doorway beside the gate.

Anzu gasped, and stepped one foot forward before stopping herself, and glancing at him. "Another illusion?"

He shook his head. "Not sure."

"We can't leave someone to lie there like that. They could be hurt," she decided, starting forward carefully. When he attempted to stride ahead of her, she turned her head and reminded him, "If Dartz has a target, it's more likely you than me."

He shook his head. "I'm not hiding behind a decoy."

"Then we go together," she replied firmly.

Their footsteps clacked unevenly over the cracked brick, the window to the ticket booth covered in dust from the wind. The limp arm was connected to a man in a station uniform, his hat askew. The swivel chair he had likely fallen out of was pushed backward. The desk phone hung off the hook. Papers lay everywhere. Anzu knelt down before the man, and shook him. "Hey, hey, can you hear me?" The man didn't respond. Glancing back over her shoulder, she asked, "Turn him over for me? I'm going to call the paramedics."

Yami no Yugi nodded, and Anzu rose, walking fully into the ticket booth. Shoving aside a set of papers on the table, she found a list labeled "Emergency Contacts." Tracing her finger, she scrolled quickly down it with one hand while picking up and the setting phone back in its cradle with the other. Carefully, Yami no Yugi rolled the man over. The man appeared middle-aged and very pale, his skin covered in a cold sweat. Placing his ear beside the man's mouth, he reported, "He's breathing, but it's very faint."

"What on earth—" Anzu muttered, placing the phone back in its cradle more firmly before picking it up again. She placed it to her ear again, her eyes meeting his. "There's no dial tone on this line." Craning her neck, she glanced past the table's legs. "The line's still intact, so I don't know what the problem is." She placed the phone back down once more. "Third time's the charm, I guess." A moment later, she dropped the phone back down in frustration. "Nothing." Bracing her hands on the desk, she gnashed her teeth, glancing about. "Where is everybody at a time like this?! He needs help! Unless…" Her fingers drummed on the desk. "The speakers were still giving out feedback. We could try to use them, and call for help."

A harsh clang from the direction of the tracks sounded, causing the two to jerk their heads around. Crunching sounded from below. "Someone's walking near the tracks," she muttered, "Are they crazy? They could get electrocuted. This doesn't make sense." A grunt sounded, along with a scrabbling noise. Something slapped against the side of the platform before slipping off.

Yami no Yugi slowly turned the man back over, gesturing for Anzu to get down. She knelt, and crawled underneath the table. The scrabbling came again, followed by a heavy grunt and thud. Static burst, and garbled voices sounded. Yami no Yugi crept forward, taking care not to get his foot stuck on the man. Anzu inched over, and he slid underneath the table beside her.

Heavy breathing from outside broke the silence. "One more sweep," a man's gruff voice sounded at an inquiry from the garbled voice. Plastic clunked, and Yami no Yugi realized that he had probably was using a walkie-talkie."Station's clear. I saw a couple of kids matching the description of who we're looking for, but I can't be sure."

The man paused, his breath labored to the point of wheezing. Anzu held her breath. "I can't be sure because those two are supposed to be dead. Who the hell survives a train derailment? The Pharaoh, I can understand, but the girl?"

Yami no Yugi and Anzu exchanged an alarmed look. The static burst again, and the man hissed, "Whaddaya mean, 'we're getting help?!' Blackroot's finished, and Cross will wire those photos of the kids when he gets the green light."

The garbled voice made another inquiry, and the man laughed. "Hell if I know. Armed robbery, I think, is what the charge is. They could even be put down for a train-jacking, since that's more logical, especially since they're foreigners. At the very least, the state troopers will pick them up."

Yami no Yugi's fist clenched at that. Anzu placed her hand on it, and shook her head warningly as the distorted voice hesitated before asking something else.

The man sighed, dropping his catty demeanor for a moment. "Look, Whitman, take the rest of the day off, if this bothers you that much. I'm sorry about your mother, but this had to be done." He sighed, his shadow slanting, indicating that he was leaning against the side wall. "What was it you told me that night on patrol, how she came to live to with you after she was mugged? Kid, I'm not trying to sound harsh, but think about it. This is the world that your mother lives in. The next world will be a better one. One where guys like us don't have to carry guns and handcuffs just because some sick bastard thinks he can take advantage of the weak and defenseless." A long silence followed, at last broken by the garbled voice. The man sighed. "No Whitman," he caught himself, "Look, Derek, just go to the station and lay down. We still have that cot in the back. I'll help the soldiers wrap up their patrol, and I'll come brew some coffee. It'll be like the old days again."

When the garbled voice responded, he replied, "I consider yesterday the 'old days,' yes. Griggs and the others can take care of meeting one of the bigwigs. I can't deal with much more of this shit than you." After one last response, he replied, "Just take it easy, Derek." Pushing himself off the wall, he passed by the ticket booth's open doorway. Knocking upon the door once, he leaned in and yelled, "Anyone in here? This is the police!"

Yami no Yugi's hand shot out, and grasped the policeman by the ankle. With a gasp, the policeman lost his balance and fell, grasping the door frame. Anzu shot out from under the table, and swung about to hit him in the face with her elbow. His grip slackened from the stun, and he fell backward, bashing his head on the brick with a groan. Sliding out from underneath the table, Yami no Yugi fell upon the man, seizing him by the collar of his shirt. The policeman's cap fell back, and the pharaoh gasped at the Seal of Orichalcos on his forehead.

The policeman wheezed before barking out a short laugh. "Just the man I was looking for."

"Who are you?" Yami no Yugi hissed.

"And what have you done to this town?" Anzu added from over his shoulder.

"Well, well, well, princess, looks like you are alive. Must be made of iron," the policeman noted with a sideways smile. Anzu regarded him coldly. "Anyway, to answer your first question, I'm Patrolman Irving Locke, and to answer your second question, I'm protecting this town."

"I don't call assisting in mass murder protection," Yami no Yugi hissed, his grip tightening on his collar, "My patience is thin enough as it is. I don't have time for jokes."

"Pharaoh," Anzu cautioned, "We need to get information out of him."

"I ain't an information booth," Locke reprimanded, "Don't call it 'mass murder,' by the by. The guy that you're standing over is still breathing, ain't he? We're saving this town by making a better one, one where everyone is safe, and happy."

"And by framing and attacking innocent people," Anzu hissed, "What kind of protector does that?"

"No one's innocent, especially not this guy who's holding me up off the ground," Locke retorted. Yami no Yugi let his grip slip at that, and Locke caught himself on his elbows. "The end isn't far now. Tomorrow will be a brutal day for Earth, as the world as you know it will crumble away. We're doing these people a favor by not placing them in the middle of it."

"Taking their souls isn't doing them a favor!" Yami no Yugi reprimanded sharply.

"Oh, you're one to talk, Pharaoh," Locke replied with a snort, "You don't even have an identification of your own, do you? No, you just pretend you're some kid. Now, guess what? The kid's gone."

Yami no Yugi's hand wobbled at his side. If he wanted any evidence about Rafael's claim of Doma being observers of human history, there it certainly was. Anzu cut back into the conversation before he could react. "In case you haven't realized, Locke, tomorrow hasn't come yet. You have no authority to legally arrest either of us."

Locke smirked at her, and Yami no Yugi's fist clenched. "Actually, I very well do, on multiple charges, at that. For starters, how about the fact that you just assaulted a police officer?"

"After you assaulted a civilian!" She retorted, "Where's this Cross guy you were talking about?"

Locke shook his head. "No more questions." The seal on his forehead glowed, and Yami no Yugi protectively held out an arm before Anzu. "You ain't gonna do anything. Your Puzzle doesn't work against this." Anzu slid sideways along the wall, and Yami no Yugi slowly drew his deck from his holster. If the seal on the policeman's forehead was continuing to react as it was, it was possible that it could be employed as a proxy for him to summon a monster or use a magic card.

Locke's eyes narrowed, and his hand shot down for his gun. Anzu, seizing his moment of divided attention, fell upon him, and secured his arms behind his back. Yami no Yugi stood at that, his hand falling to his side. He fixed Locke with a fierce glare, the Eye of Wdjat appearing to glow on his forehead. Anzu groaned with the effort as she tried to keep Locke's arms in place behind him. Her eyes widened at Yami no Yugi's altered state, and she bit her lip, shaking her head once.

Yami no Yugi let out a breath, remembering himself, and the Eye disappeared. Quickly, he traced his hand through his cards before at last drawing the Spellbinding Circle. Raising it in the air before Locke, whose eyes widened at the gesture, he warned Anzu to back up. Locke, his arms free, reached for his gun. Bright light burst before him, and he cried out in pain as the Circle constricted him, binding his bent elbows into place, his hands upraised. "Where's Cross?" Yami no Yugi demanded, his tone indicating that he was at the end of his patience.

"Find him yourself," Locke replied flippantly. At their annoyed expressions, he gave a pained grin, "What's the matter, gonna torture it out of me?" Yami no Yugi's eyes narrowed at that.

Anzu, however, broke in, "He's a policeman, yes? He's at the police station?"

"Hell if I know," Locke hissed from the pain, "We're all on patrol."

Anzu shook her head, her eyes meeting Yami no Yugi's with a beseeching look. "No, the man on the telegraph wouldn't be," she rose quickly, and hurried back into the booth, "He'd be at the station." Papers whispered as she dug through them in a flurry.

Yami no Yugi held out the card threateningly, his gaze hardening at Locke, whose face was still contorted from the pain. "I can make that circle even tighter, Irving." Locke gasped sharply, taking a wheezing breath as if Yami no Yugi's words had, in fact, caused it to tighten. The pharaoh smirked, knowing that it hadn't yet. "What's the matter, is it getting a little hard to breathe?"

The policeman spat out a curse at him. Tilting his head at a burst of static, the pharaoh noticed that the walkie-talkie was still live. Anzu's sneakers pounded back over the threshold. "Found it! Here's a map of Blackroot!"

"Gimme that! That's the property of the municipality!" Locke snapped as Yami no Yugi lowered the card to put away. He held up his hand to Anzu for a moment before diving down, and snatching the walkie-talkie from Locke's belt, with one arm upheld to fend off Locke's foot.

While Locke continued to curse at him, Anzu asked, "Do you think we should leave the gun with him? He might hurt someone, if he hasn't already."

"If this circle is still holding, he won't be able to get to it. Besides, it's an empty threat," Yami no Yugi replied, stepping past Locke, who had devolved to rolling on the ground and screaming at them as they gained distance, "He needed our souls. Killing us would be useless."

Anzu cast a final glance over her shoulder, and shuddered. "I don't want to think what the seal could bring out in me." The map crinkled as her grip on it tightened. He turned to her in concern, and she elaborated, "I've gotten frustrated before, and I'll admit I can be hot-blooded at times." Opting to let go of the thread of conversation, she brought the map back up quickly. "From here, it shows the police station lies more within the hub of the town, as opposed to the residential area. Head on's the quickest way, but I can't say it's the safest."

Looking down contemplatively at the walkie-talkie in his hand, he replied, "We at least know that there are two policemen at the station, Whitman and Cross. There might be more. Whitman didn't sound like he is in good shape, mentally, anyway. It seems like the rest were out on patrol."

"And taking souls," Anzu muttered, her voice quiet. She coughed as dust blew into her mouth.

Yami no Yugi lowered the walkie-talkie, his grip clenching around it.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Can you hear it?" He muttered, his voice tight, and his teeth clenching.

Anzu blinked, having heard only the wind and the walkie-talkie's static. However, she shut her eyes, and listened more carefully, the wind stirring her hair sideways, and bringing over the sounds from where the homes stood. Sounds that made her cry out. Yami no Yugi dashed forward, and she yelled, "Stop!"

He halted, his back to her, and his frame stiff. "Let me go, Anzu," he demanded, terrified screams piercing the air, "They're dying. You wanted my answer, and you have it."

"You're going to just charge into this?" She asked pointedly, crinkling the map in her hand, "We just got here. I understand why you want to help, but that's a good way to get yourself killed." She shook the map for emphasis. "We need to help Jonouchi and Honda."

"And let them suffer?" He challenged, pointing out at the houses.

Anzu didn't yield. "Where were you when Prisoner-777 took Burger World hostage? It wasn't until his hand cracked across my face that you even appeared." Yami no Yugi's eyes widened at that. Anzu folded her arms. "Make no mistake, I'm grateful that you saved me that day, but unless It was something that directly concerned Yugi or one of his friends, you weren't there."

His fist clenched. "I've changed."

Anzu nodded. "And I'm glad that you have. You're extending your sympathy far beyond each of us. But now isn't the right time."

"I can't blind myself to this," he hissed.

Anzu, a frustrated expression on her face, crumpled the map between her hands to deposit on the ground before bringing her foot down on it. "If you go there, then you may as well have sentenced us to death!" She reached into her pocket, and, much to his surprise, brought out a deck of cards. "We have two decks to work with, yours, and mine from Duelist Kingdom, and we're going against I don't know how many Orichalcos soldiers and corrupted lawmen. Not to mention how much time this would take. If we go that route, Cross will have more than enough time to wire the photos." She lowered her head. "And at this point, I'm not even sure if we'll be able to save anyone. The soldiers have been here too long."

Yami no Yugi shook his head. "So what then, run like a dog with my tail between my legs?"

"What did Yugi tell you during your duel with him?" Anzu asked, her voice becoming hard, "Just because you feel something is right doesn't mean you should do it. Let me explain you something that hasn't quite sunk in yet, Pharaoh. Whatever you were in the past, you are a fifteen-year-old kid, far from home, with no modern education, no identification, no living family to speak of, no knowledge of how to drive, and no idea how to even use that walkie-talkie you're holding. I promised to stand by your side, and with Yugi gone, I'm going to protect you, one way or another. It's not out of pity, or because you were once some powerful ruler, but because you are my friend. Even if that means I have to grab you by your jacket collar, and drag you away from a fight. And, so help me, I'll hammer that into your skull as many times as I have to until I get through to you!"

Silence passed between them, the map rustling under Anzu's foot as she took deep breaths to compose herself. Yami no Yugi glared at her, but otherwise said nothing, casting his gaze between her and the homes, his nostrils flaring. Anzu braced herself, as he looked half-ready to strike her. However, his expression slowly relaxed, and he sighed heavily, relenting, with one last regretful gaze toward the homes as the screams began to die down. "To the station, then," he responded, his tone indicating that he was less than sure of his decision.

Anzu knelt to pick up the map. Unfurling it, and brushing the dust from it, she come to stand beside him. "We'll take a side route past a few of the stores. We'll keep to the alleys, and stay out of the parking lots. The cell phone tower's shadow should hide us, and we can step through the supports of the water tower." Her stomach growled, and she put a hand to it. "I've wasted enough time."

"We did," he corrected her, and Anzu smiled at him before they set off, taking care to step off the main road. The structures creaked, and stones whispered as they fell from the cracking concrete of the sidewalk. Anzu's and Yami no Yugi's reflections were distorted in the side mirrors of the cars they passed. They gave the vehicles a berth, as the sun's reflection made it difficult to see inside.

The porch of the general store was announced by a creak, one of the rocking chairs on it falling slightly forward from the wind. The door to the store was open, and a body, its hand still braced upon the handle, lay splayed out. The effect was disturbing, with the door swinging slightly as the body's weight sagged. Antiquities on the windowsill were smashed, with an arm hanging on top of them. A dark form lay across the cash register at the counter, while white noise emitted from possibly a radio within, as a television couldn't be seen. Turning her head from the scene, Anzu pointed down the side alley, her companion nodding as they quickly moved on.

Passing by a few garbage cans, the heat of the sun already causing them to stink, Anzu held out a hand for the walkie-talkie. "I wonder if they've noticed what's happened to Locke?" Yami no Yugi handed it over, and she leaned against a side wall to tinker with it, all the while keeping her fingers far away from the speaker button. Phonetic code and police jargon spilled out, and she muttered, "This might take a few moments."

He nodded, starting forward. "I'll look ahead."

A collection of chairs and tables stood against one side of the alley, indicating that he was next to a restaurant, a further indicator being the orange lettering higher up on the side wall. Slowly, he poked his head out, only to retract it just as quick with a hand covering his mouth, muffling his gasp of shock at the scene before him.

Bodies lay everywhere. Some lay face down in their food at outdoor tables, with overturned drinks already attracting wasps. Others, with purses, shopping bags, and backpacks dumped out all over the concrete, lay splayed, with cuts and abrasions on their skin from the fall. A leash, clearly broken off, lay underneath one man's hand. Doors stood open, one with a few bodies piled before it. A man was collapsed over a mailbox, his one hand stuck in the open lid, and his limp arm flapping in the wind. A woman was collapsed against a dumpster, her eyes still open, and ants marching up her face. A jump rope, twisted about a little girl's hand, swung back and forth, similarly to a pendulum. A stray cat sniffed at a teenage girl's pony tail, only to glance up at Yami no Yugi, and dash off, its black fur raised.

Anzu slowly walked up behind him, her voice low. "Yeah, they've noticed," she muttered, "We would've been sitting ducks if we hadn't taken a side route."

Yami no Yugi slowly turned toward her, dropping his hand. Anzu, her heart sinking, peeked out her head, only to retract it, and fall backward against the restaurant's wall, sliding down to sit on the sidewalk in shock. The walkie talkie hummed in her hand. "Ten-one-oh-one, Patrolman Locke, repeat, Ten-one-oh-one Patrolman Locke!" Anzu's thumb twisted the walkie-talkie to a separate channel. "All units, ten-forty until later advised, repeat, all units, ten-forty until later advised!"

Anzu winced. "Damn it!" Yami no Yugi raised an eyebrow, and she stood to explain herself, "Ten-forty means a silent run. They'll still talk on the radio, but we won't hear any cruiser sirens if they're on patrol. As soon as we leave the station, we have to get out of here."

He turned to look once again at the horrific scene. "Have you heard anything about this area on the radio?"

Anzu shook her head. "If I can guess, this is probably where they started, since it was closer to the station. They might consider this to be a safe area for the time being."

Yami no Yugi nodded at that. "Then we'll have to move quickly. Stay close."

Anzu looked away. "Easier said than done." She still, however, put one foot forward, and, taking a breath to gather her courage, continued, her face pale at the sight of the bodies before her. They each grasped onto the other's free arm for support, guiding each other over the bodies in something that looked like an odd rendition of a high-step dance. Anzu even mumbled, "One, two, three," under her breath to keep herself on point, despite feeling the sun on her body like an eye on her back, until at last they crept back into the shelter of another alley, letting go of each other to lean against the walls. Glass broke in the distance, shattering the tentative calm of the moment. They hastened away.

Anzu set the map on the ground as they knelt behind a chain link fence. Crates filled with oranges, the citrus stinging their eyes. Yami no Yugi pulled two of the oranges from the crates, and checked them for signs of rot before handing one over to Anzu. It disquieted him to realize that the fruit, while hot from the sun, had yet to begin to really corrode, indicating the attack was recent. He was about to peel it by hand when Anzu put hers in her mouth, bit down, and tore off part of the peel, taking a moment to suck on it before spitting it out. Swiping her mouth with her wrist, she chuckled. "Sorry you had to see that. It's just how I get the most juice out of it." Yami no Yugi smiled, and copied her motion, spitting it out further. Anzu bit again, and spat hers, the two of them making a game out of it until the oranges were completely unpeeled. Holding his in his one hand, Yami no Yugi loaded two more into Anzu's backpack with his other hand while she continued to study the map, the walkie-talkie set on the ground beside it.

Turning away from her, he walked toward the delivery truck, its doors open, a ramp dropped to the sidewalk, and a few crates still sitting inside. The truck's engine continued to run, the four-way flashers blinking. A few were stacked on a roll-away dolly, the operator lying face-down before it. Yami no Yugi's reflection walked towards him from the driver's side mirror, the door open. A clipboard lay on the ground, the pen rolling back and forth over its pages as the wind stirred it. The driver's limp arm hung out. The truck's radio sung quietly to itself. Biting into his orange, and sending more juice flying, Yami no Yugi leaned slightly over the unconscious driver to glance at the passenger's seat. Finding it empty, he retracted himself in relief, and turned to walk away.

Anzu glanced up as he returned, wiping his fingers against his pant leg, "Do you smell something?" She asked, wrinkling her nose. Sniffing at the air, he nodded his head with a grimace, turning his head to look at the back door to the restaurant they were hiding behind. Pushing her hair back behind one ear, she noted, "When I worked at Burger World, I remember the sign for the walk-in fridge saying that the food could last in there for six hours with no power. But this is still going on. It hasn't been long enough for that. Must be the food that was being prepared on the cutting boards. Come to think of it, it's probably not a good idea to walk by the water tower now. If no one is conscious to operate the power plants, I'm not sure what will happen."

"That doesn't make any sense," he pointed out, "The electricity is still working, otherwise the police wouldn't be able to wire the photos. If the power plants were kept running, no newcomer would be the wiser."

"So they'll go for the power plants last?" She asked, lowering her head back toward the map and pointing at the cell phone tower, "Except for the interior phone lines. Outside lines probably haven't been touched yet." She pulled out her cell phone, the Kuriboh key chain bouncing, and tapped experimentally on it. "Just as I thought, no reception." She pocketed it again, and rubbed at her chin in thought. "We'll still have to skip the water tower anyway, then, since there are still people working there." She glanced back over the restaurant's back door. "Whoever took those people away must have had the foresight to turn off the gas, otherwise we'd be looking at a gaping hole in the ground. It was probably one of the policemen."

"Could I have a look at that, Anzu?" He asked, kneeling beside her. She edged over, and polished off the last of her orange. Tracing his finger over the water droplet, lightning bolt, flame, corded phone, and upward squiggly arrows that indicated the water, electricity, natural gas, communications, and geothermal plants, respectively, he commented, "It's probably better that we avoid these locations altogether. It would make more sense to me that the workers are also being controlled." As Anzu wiped off her hand on the ground, he explained, "If you cripple a town's economy as well as its law enforcement, it will fold in on itself much quicker."

Anzu shuddered at that. "So the cell phone tower is also out?"

He nodded. "It's probably not in use right now, but the workers would still need to be there to keep it stable."

Anzu suppressed a growl of frustration. "That just leaves one last route. We'll have to cross through town hall. The station will be dead ahead. The problem is," she placed her pointer finger on the large gray square, "there's a parking lot, a large one, and it faces the police station. They'll see us coming right away."

The walkie-talkie hummed back to life. "All units, ten-twelve, repeat, ten-twelve."

Her face turned grim at that. "'Stand by,'" she translated. No further context was needed. Yami no Yugi's fingers curled in anger and frustration in the chain link fence.

Letting go, he replied quietly, "We have no choice."

Anzu slowly nodded, and rose, gathering the walkie-talkie and map to herself. "We'll just have to try, then." She thought of the flint in her backpack. "I could try to make a distraction by setting a hedge on fire."

Reaching into his deck, he drew the Eye of Timaeus to hold out between them, staring at it contemplatively. Anzu said nothing, instead allowing him to think. Yami no Yugi felt a shade of his shock at Timaeus not listening to him in his past duel on the train return, but slowly allowed for it to fall away. Running his head once over the card, he silently beseeched him to lend him his strength once more. Staring up at Anzu, who looked off down the opposite alley, contemplating the dangerous nature of their endeavor, he slackened his grip upon his pride. While he did lack in understanding the suffering of others to a point due to myriad factors, he did understand what it was to feel lost, or afraid, though he did cloak it with his self-confidence. At the very least, he could try. There were things he still didn't understand about modern humans, though it could be argued that part of it was because he hadn't considered himself human for so long. He had, as time had gone on, opened himself more to another, and released his grip more and more upon his past identity as a shadowed being within the Puzzle.

He'd clung tightly to his newfound sense of identity upon first emerging from the Puzzle, thinking himself to, in fact, think he was Yugi Muto, though a different side of him. Finding that truth was far more complicated was something both of elation and fear. In some respects, Yami no Yugi thought that Yugi did have a right to shatter the Puzzle upon finding that he had been a different being sharing his vessel, but the boy's hand had stayed. Perhaps it was more a testament to Yugi's kindness than much else, but it had given Yami no Yugi some peace in knowing that someone had wanted him to remain there. He wasn't just an object to be thrown in the drawer, sold, or tossed in the trash, but he had been someone of value.

Reaching back into Yugi's memories, he'd seen a much younger version of Anzu, her hair tied up in a ponytail, swinging a bruised fist at a boy who'd hit Yugi, her friend rubbing at his cheek behind her, tears in his eyes. Though the school teacher later punished Anzu by calling her parents, Anzu hadn't laid any blame on Yugi, instead sporting the bandaged gash from a rock the bully had thrown at her face, and smiling. "See, we're twins!"

Yami no Yugi knew, especially now, knew that he wasn't perfect, but it didn't matter to him now. He wanted his friend back, as did Anzu. Slowly placing the card back, he appealed to Timaeus with his sense of loss, rather than his sense of heroism. He stood. "I don't think it'll have to come to that. Come on." Anzu beside him, they crept away.

Town hall loomed above them, its bronze bell silent. A chair, turned sideways on the floor, was visible to them from one window. Another was open, with a woman's arms and long hair trailing out of it. Much to Anzu's relief, there were hedges aligning the structure's curiously green lawn, the sprinklers spraying their legs. She decided against holding her breath, however, her heart thumping as they flattened themselves along the wall. The hum of an engine sounded from around the building's front. Yami no Yugi's hand went to his deck as he pictured a police cruiser idling in the middle of the parking lot.

The sun's dying rays burst into his vision as he swung about, his arm upheld.

Squinting, he registered the silhouette before him. It was too small and angular to be a car, though many sat on either side, their drivers half spilled out of them, and their engines still running. In the center, however, he realized it was a motorcycle that he was looking at, the driver dismounting to remove its helmet. The rider unfastened the clasps, and out spilled long, blonde hair. Setting her helmet down upon the seat, Mai Kujaku greeted solemnly, "Hello again, Yami no Yugi."


	2. Chapter 2

I'd been meaning to update this story more quickly, but I've been busy with a training for a new job over the previous month. The initial dialogue in this chapter, interestingly, was the hardest to figure out. Due to the Death-T manga storyline being incompatible with the anime storyline, the only manga I reference as canon in my fics are the stories before Death-T, and any one-off stories after Death-T that can stand alone. The rematch referenced in this was the one Mai asked Yami no Yugi for in Monophobia, and will be a bit more detailed in the next chapter.

Written while listening to "Parabola" by Tool.

* * *

"Mai," he replied carefully, wincing at the brightness of the sun, "step aside."

Mai's booted foot hit the ground. While he couldn't make out the expression on her face very well, the forward lean of her body, and the tightening of her hands over the handles said more than enough. "Oh, so I'm just an obstacle to you now?" Anzu gasped from behind Yami no Yugi. His fist clenched at his side as Mai continued, "You want to pass, you have to go through me."

"You oversaw this, didn't you?" He hissed, his fist wobbling as he recalled Locke's previous comments. "Or did you come to collect on it," he shook his head, "It doesn't matter, does it?"

Anzu stepped out from behind him. When he held up an arm to stop her, she pushed it aside, reminding him, "We're not in a duel. She can't do anything."

Cocking her head to the side, and placing a hand on her hip, she laughed. Yami no Yugi bolted forward at that, seized by anger at her reaction after the horrors of the day. The Puzzle glowed, and all the while she continued to laugh, and mock, and—

-anditwasn'theritcouldn'tbehercouldn'tbecouldn'tbecouldn'tbe—

"Pharaoh!" Anzu cried out.

He stopped short, breathing heavily. He placed his hand on the hood of one of the cars, and immediately retracted it, waving it out from the heat. Leaning his elbow upon it, he continued to breathe hard, staring at Mai. Shaking her head, she dropped her hand to point at him. "I was looking for you."

It felt like an odd dream, or perhaps a nightmare. The days after Battle City had flown by, the monotony of the modern age wearing one into the next. In a rhythm, the city streets came alive, cars racing by, and people walking. Surrounded by crowds, yet still an island, it was tempting, from time to time, to simply sink into this world, and step away from his goal of finding his memories. Marik was vanquished, Bakura had not been seen again, and Pegasus had bowed aside. There had been no other foe to face. Yet, his hand would pass through the knob of a door, or the branch of a bush, and he would be disappointed at his lack of autonomy. On occasion, he thought of seeing her again in the sunlight, long hair blown back as she sped down the road in her convertible, or puzzling over a new strategy, her deck spread out on the table before her.

Though, that hadn't been the extent of his fantasies, with others being more erotic in their content. A favorite of his tended to involve her pinning his wrists over his head in the backseat of her convertible. She'd laugh at how his helplessness made him blush as she straddled his hips, her low-cut white top unlaced, and lean forward, her long hair cascading over her shoulders, to kiss and suck on his exposed neck, his collar unbuckled. During one of Yugi's classes, Yami no Yugi had become bored, and accidentally allowed that image to creep into Yugi's mind. Yugi's surprise was signaled with a dropping of his pencil, his teacher sharply turning his head to demand, "Is there something you'd like to say, Mr. Muto?" Yami no Yugi had contented himself with remaining within his soul room for a few following days. Nevertheless, Yugi took a chance from time to time to rib him whenever a convertible happened to drive by.

He found he did prefer her, aesthetically speaking, in leather, but while he couldn't deny that, it was a miserable reunion. His suspicions about her rescuing him and the others had proven correct, though internally he'd tempered them with the fact that Mai was more of a closed off person, much like himself. Perhaps that was what made watching her duel with Jonouchi so agonizing, to say nothing of what she had endured alone.

In some ways, he felt self-reproach, thinking of her in such a perfectly conjured manner, while her reality had been, in fact, much darker. If only he had known…But then, Mai wouldn't have let him know, and he understood why. She would have regarded telling others about her overwhelming negative feelings as exposing a weakness.

Much to his chagrin, he found that perhaps he might have worsened that situation. That night in the park after Battle City had concluded, he'd hugged Mai, all pretenses of formality dropped for a moment. Barring Yugi, no one had been around to witness him in a rather vulnerable moment, or Mai, for that matter (not that she had known Yugi was there, and his counterpart hadn't been willing to tell her afterward).

It did frustrate him that she hadn't spoken to him about her plight, but, speaking quite frankly, it was out of the question. Mai wasn't foolish; especially considering what she alluded to him about in the park, Yami no Yugi could guess that she had had her suspicions anyway that Yugi and he weren't exactly two perfect sides of a single coin. However, it would be very jarring for her to comprehend that there was a separate entity dwelling within a single vessel. Frankly, he theorized that if he had not thrown himself into the fray to help her, Mai would have most likely not wanted him anywhere near her after what Marik had put her through. She would keep her distance from him until she could better understand him. Aside from that, it was awkward enough for Anzu, a close friend of Yugi since childhood, to ask him to talk to Yami no Yugi. For Mai, an outsider, it was unheard of. Relationships with the living were simply too complicated.

"You've found me," he replied curtly, "Now that you're satisfied, allow us to pass."

"I'm not," she stated.

Anzu shook her head. "Mai, we don't have time for this! The police here—"

Mai snapped, "I know why they're here, Anzu!"

Yami no Yugi's fists clenched. "You were in charge of this massacre, weren't you?" He growled through gritted teeth. In the back of his head, however, he sincerely hoped that he was wrong.

Mai shook her head, though it did nothing to alleviate his unease, as he wasn't sure what her negative body language indicated. "No, I wasn't 'in charge,'" she answered, "This was organized by the local police department. One of us has to check to see that it's finished."

Anzu let out a heavy breath. "You've done this before, haven't you, Mai?"

"This is the first time," she answered. At Anzu's dismayed reaction, she turned her attention pointedly back to Yami no Yugi, and added, "This isn't a massacre, as you call it. The people here aren't dead."

"Of course not," Yami no Yugi hissed, waving his arm, "Their souls have merely been ripped from their bodies to be fed to the Leviathan. It can't possibly be an awful thing, can it?"

Mai rolled her eyes. "Sanctimonious as always, aren't you?"

Anzu started past Yami no Yugi. "This isn't getting anywhere. Mai, please, we have to get inside the station. Jonouchi and Honda will be in serious trouble if we don't!"

"You want to stop them from wiring their photos," Kujaku replied plainly, catching her off-guard. Anzu tightly nodded her head. "There isn't a point in it," Mai dismissed.

"What do you mean?!" Anzu exclaimed, waving her arms for emphasis, "There'll be a manhunt for them! Does seeking power matter so much to you?" She shook her head, and pointed at her. "Mai, you told me yourself, that night we spent around the campfire with you in Duelist Kingdom, that you felt nothing but disdain for those who sought money and power at the casinos. How are you any different from them now?"

"Anzu, do yourself a favor, and quit trying to talk about things you know nothing of," Mai reprimanded, "What both of you fail to understand is that there wouldn't be a point in stopping the photos from being wired. Don't you think that more than one town would be looking for the four of you?"

Yami no Yugi and Anzu exchanged a frightened glance as Mai continued, "This isn't like the Battle City finals, Yami no Yugi."

"Then why stop us, if this is inconsequential to you?" Yami no Yugi inquired, "We keep the photos from being run through Blackroot's telegraph. It shouldn't matter to DOMA that one town isn't broadcasting the message, if so many others are."

Mai shrugged, and glanced back over her shoulder to look at the station. A window opened, and an officer stuck out his head to look down at them. With a sharp gesture from Mai, the window shut again. Turning her head back, she replied, "It wouldn't matter to DOMA, especially with what is coming tomorrow."

"Then let us through!" Anzu insisted.

"No."

Engines revved loudly in the distance, catching the attention of the three. A police cruiser, followed closely by two others, bore down the road toward them. The front doors of the police station swung open, and out sprinted two female officers, their pistols drawn, and pointed past Mai's shoulders toward Anzu and Yami no Yugi.

Mai turned sharply on her heel. The Orichalcos stone about her neck glowed green. "Yami no Yugi!" She exclaimed, holding up her duel disk, "Get your deck!" He nodded, pulling it from his holster once more, while Anzu slipped her hand into her pocket. As the female officers screamed at Yami no Yugi and Anzu to show their hands, Mai spun back about, and ordered, "In the name of the Leviathan, put your weapons down!" The female officers hesitated, the seals on their exposed foreheads glowing brightly in the sun. "Are you deaf?!" Mai snapped, "I said put down your weapons!"

The pistols wobbled in the air, and were lowered, the two officers standing quietly before the doors. The cruisers slowed to a halt as Mai, three cards fanned out in her hand, placed one onto her duel disk. In a burst of light, the Harpie Lady, her form half-bent over, and her head tucked behind closed wings, appeared, floating a few meters off the ground at Mai's side. She rose, her wings parting, and her long, red hair whipping backward. She shrieked at the sky, and took flight, alighting upon the town hall's bell tower. She clutched at the structure with her talons, leering down upon the scene with red, glowing eyes, the seal standing prominently out on her forehead. The officers who climbed out of their cruises held their hats on against the burst of wind. Holding a card aloft, Yami no Yugi called forth Buster Blader, who stood stalwart before his master, his sword warningly pointed toward the police officers who occupied the cruisers. Anzu's Dark Witch was poised in the air, her dark blue wings beating at intervals to keep herself aloft, and her spear pointed down at the female officers standing guard before the station.

"Stand aside!" Called the first officer to leave the cruiser, slamming the door shut. His partner, a pair of handcuffs dangling from his hand, slid out of the other side. "These two are wanted for assaulting a police officer, and must be taken into custody!"

"How dare you!" Mai snapped, starting forward, "I am a horsewoman to Dartz, himself! I speak for him when I order you all to leave!" The officers hesitated, and glanced around at the monsters. The Harpie Lady leaned forward, and shrieked again, her one taloned hand upheld threateningly. "I won't warn you again!" Kujaku added.

Anzu glanced again to Yami no Yugi, who hesitated, but nodded. Anzu extended her hand to the side, catching the attention of the Dark Witch, who focused her gaze upon her mistress. Anzu pointed to the female officers, and held up her hand vertically. Dark Witch nodded, and turned her spear in her hands from an aggressive upright position, and to a more passive horizontal position, laying it across the palms of her hands. Yami no Yugi's hand twitched at his side, catching Buster Blader's notice. He twisted his finger about in the air, and the warrior responded by stepping back one leg, his knee bending.

The officers, however, continued to hold their ground, lack of sureness plain to see on their faces, and the seals pulsing on their foreheads. Mai, a lopsided grin on her face, dropped another card onto her duel disk, and took a few steps backward. Yami no Yugi and Anzu called out to their monsters as the ground shook. Harpie's Pet Dragon roared, stomping its clawed foot hard upon the ground, causing the cruisers to bounce, knocking down a few of the officers. Its chain cracked sharply against the asphalt, sending up a shower of white sparks. Its wings beat, rattling the window frames of the buildings surrounding it, and sending the humans around it backward a few steps.

The Dark Witch swooped down toward the female officers, and swung about, placing herself before the dragon. The officers spun about, and retreated into the building. The dragon, its jaw slack, inhaled deeply, and belched out a ball of flame, incinerating the Dark Witch, and blasting the doors forward. Screams of pain and agony sounded from inside as the doors fell inward, crushing one officer's legs, and setting the other officer's back and hair on fire.

Mai loaded her third card into her duel disk as the Harpie Lady swooped down from the bell tower. Anzu, her hands tearing at tufts of her hair in disdain at her failure, only noticed the Harpie Lady descending toward her by her vision growing dark. Glancing up, she gasped at the sight of the winged creature, now blurred as she split into two others. Anzu gasped, and broke into a sprint. It felt as if two blades were drawing down her shoulders as her feet left the ground, the fabric of her jacket and shirt ripping, and the backpack falling to the dirt, its straps broken. Blood dripped from the gashes to run down her shoulders as she twisted and flailed, punching the Harpie's face and breasts. The Harpie Lady retaliated by biting at her cheek, drawing blood as she flew back into the shopping district, Anzu grasped tightly in her talons.

At Yami no Yugi's command, Buster Blader darted toward the cruisers, and swung about, his blade barely blocking the next fireball. The warrior strained against the heat, his shoulders and knees buckling. "Mai, stop this!" Yami no Yugi cried out, "You'll kill them!"

"And why shouldn't I?" She hissed, "You saw what they did to this town!"

He shook his head in disbelief. "Mai, this isn't like you!"

"But it is like you, isn't it?!" She accused, causing him to take a breath in shock. She raised an eyebrow, her scowl at him deepening. "I've learned quite a bit about you since I last saw you. Not quite the hero you think you are, are you?"

Pain lanced through Yami no Yugi's shoulders, and he cried out as he was lifted into the air, twisting and screaming at the talons that tore through his uniform jacket and shirt. He coughed harshly from accidentally inhaling green feathers as one of the Harpie Sisters took to the skies with him. Below, the Harpie's Pet Dragon spun about, and swung its tail, knocking over Buster Blader, the police officers, and the cruisers as if they were children's toys. Yami no Yugi's eyes burned from the smoke that poured from the police station's doorway. Mai stood far below him, her blonde hair blurring from the tears in his eyes. Deciding against aggravating the searing pain in his shoulders further, he kicked out at the Harpie's taloned feet. She angled herself sideways, and released her grip on him. Yami no Yugi's heart leapt into his throat as he fell, kicking and hitting the air blindly.

The remaining Harpie Sister seized him by the tail of his jacket, swooping away with him bent over, his rear end rather humiliatingly exposed to the air. The buildings rose closer to him the Harpie descended, and Yami no Yugi, gasping at the pain the movement caused, held out his arms to block his face from scraping the roof of a building that was too close. At the last moment, the Sister swung aside, purple feathers falling, and dipped to be parallel with the ground, pitching him forward into the alley. He skidded to a halt on his elbows and knees with a groan, lurching on the ground to cough up the dust and dirt he'd inhaled by mistake.

Footfalls thumped over to him, and he looked up to see Anzu, with scrapes on her bare legs, torn sleeves, and smears of blood on her exposed shoulders and cheek, kneeling before him. "Are you all right?"

Shutting his eyes, he hissed in pain as he slowly sat up. "Flesh wound, I think." Leaning his head back against the wall behind him, he groaned partly from the pain, and partly from trying to find his bearings again. His head lolled to the side, and he cracked his eyes back open. "Are you all right?"

Anzu nodded her head, and gestured to the building behind them. An alabaster hoofed animal with red eyes and massive horns was painted on the side of it, along with the words, White Bull Tavern. A side door stood open. "I was able to go inside, and find a medical kit in the back office." She indicated where it sat on a crate of beer beside the door, and went over to fetch it.

Something scraped along the roof, and craning his neck at the noise, Yami no Yugi saw the wing of one Harpie Lady sticking out as she spun away from him. A pigeon flew over, only to shriek in fear as it was caught, gray feathers falling to lie beside Yami no Yugi. A few moments later, he winced at the sickening crunches of bone.

Anzu knelt beside him with the antiseptic, and he shook his head, holding out his hands for it, instead. "You had to patch yourself up on your own. It wouldn't be fair if I made you do it for me."

Anzu nodded, and allowed him to have it. Yami no Yugi pushed himself up with a grunt, and followed her inside, the afternoon sunlight casting gold streaks on the floor. A few bodies lay on the floor, or were collapsed on tables. A jukebox sung to itself. Fans lazily spun overhead. Upended bottles left dark stains on the floor. A payphone was set against the far wall, the phone book on the floor, and the phone off the cradle, periodically banging up against the shelf. The glass cabinets for the more expensive alcohol were broken, the bottle on the shelf shattered. Broken plates lay everywhere.

Anzu turned back to look at him as a shadow ominously passed over the light from one of the windows. "We can't leave, can we?" Yami no Yugi inquired.

She held up a scratched hand to confirm his inquiry. He sighed, rubbing at his shoulder, which already felt sore. "Which way is the men's room?" A disappointed look flickered across Anzu's face, but was quickly replaced with a blush. She cleared her throat, and pointed past the counter before turning to walk away.

Biting the inside of his mouth against the pain, Yami no Yugi shrugged off his coat, and hung it over the side of one of the stalls. The third stall down had a pair of legs trailing out from underneath it, while before the fourth was an overturned garbage can, and a body splayed upon the trash. His skin crawled at the sight. The shirt was a bit harder to remove, and he figured that he had torn a half-formed scab in doing so, judging by the blood that he felt seeping down. The jacket had taken more damage out of the two garments, the tail of it torn, and holes in the shoulders. The shirt had still managed to hold itself together despite its tears. As for his shoulders, thankfully he had only abrasions to worry about, though they were quite deep.

Taking a few paper towels, he hissed at the pain as he cleaned his wounds out, finding the situation rather odd. He'd been hit by both monsters and fists in the modern world, but lasting gashes were another issue entirely. He chided himself on being more careful with Yugi's body, and felt concerned as to whether it was an effect of recent events rattling his perception.

The medical kit lying in the basin of the sink, he braced his elbows upon it, and leaned forward, contemplating his reflection in the mirror, a snapshot between the red and blue graffiti on the glass. He also hadn't considered the idea of such an attack coming from someone he'd considered an ally. What Mai had become since their last meeting, he hadn't known the extent of, though this incident proved to be the most troubling. With a sigh, he covered his face with his hand. Rafael's accusations against him during their previous duel made a bit more sense in this context now. A chill raced down his spine, but he knew it wasn't because of his skin being exposed. He hated being out-maneuvered for several reasons, and here Dartz had seen him, somehow, during his most savage days.

Unfortunately, he knew that Mai's trust in him would be rocked now, as he, at one time, was starkly similar to Marik and Bakura. Though, given Mai's intelligence, she would have not felt completely at ease around him to begin with, hence her questions to him that night in the park. Still, it was a small consolation. He couldn't reconcile the events of today with the person she was. Mai hadn't been introduced to him as a necessarily ethical person at first, but she'd shown herself to be much more than a cheat.

She'd asked for a rematch that night in the park, and it had been close that following day, his and Yugi's life points sitting at a mere 100 before Mai could deal a death stroke. She'd appeared on top of the world in a moment, and he'd smiled at that, recalling her self-satisfaction during Duelist Kingdom. One last draw, however, swung the duel back around for five turns, leaving her at zero.

Loss was one of the hardest things he'd had to learn how to handle, and in fact, he was still learning. But part of it was that he had such few concepts to cling to, that losing any of them was unthinkable. How could he accept that something was no longer his, when he'd already been stripped of his very identity? He snapped his eyes open, and stood to full height, snatching his clothing. He couldn't go back there, not now.

Anzu was seated at the far end of the bar, contemplating a glass of water that she swirled in one hand, the ice cubs bumping against the sides of the glass. She put the glass down as he came over the bar, and asked, "Thirsty?" He nodded his head, and she smiled, reaching over to where another glass was already poured, and slid it across the bar toward him.

He caught it, and gratefully thanked her, sitting down beside her.

After a few moments of silence, Anzu sighed. "I hope she didn't kill those people."

Yami no Yugi shook his head. "The Leviathan would take their souls, as well. There wouldn't be a point in it."

"I'm not sure," she replied, setting down her glass, and balancing her hand on her chin, "Why wouldn't she just challenge you to a duel right there? There was nothing left to lose. She had you right where she wanted you. And why bring me here, as well? I can't duel as well as she can."

He took a long drink, and set the glass down, gathering his thoughts. "Do you think she has her own agenda?"

She nodded her head. "Mai's an outsider to DOMA, more so than the others are, but," she drummed her fingers on the bar, "I don't think that's all there is to it. I can only go off of what Jonouchi, Otogi, and Honda told me, but you were reckless while you used the Seal, weren't you?" He tensed at that, and she went on, "Your strategy was purely aggressive, and you wanted to end Rafael as soon as you could." Her fingers stopped. "That aggression wasn't just from the Seal. It amplified it, but it's always been there. Do you remember what Mai called you?"

He folded his arms, and conceded from the corner of his mouth, "Sanctimonious."

Anzu smiled sadly. "You don't like to hear it, do you?"

Gripping the side of the bar, he leaned forward. "Were you not there when I said that I would take all of Marik's anger on my back?"

"Of course I was," she replied tightly, her fist clenching on the bar, "I watched you suffer as you took the full extent of Ra's barrage to save Jonouchi and Mai that night. But what you need to understand is that this is a problem you have, and one act won't simply overturn it."

"You've hit me over the head well enough for my past, thank you," he replied, turning back to his drink.

Anzu sighed in exasperation. "You need to grow up."

He spun back around. "What?!"

She pointed at him. "You want to understand who you are, and to recover your memories. Part of accomplishing the former is acknowledging each of your flaws, and dealing with them accordingly. There are some that you have done this, others that you're working on, but there are a few that you need to know are not easily solved. Case in point, you tend to claim the moral high ground with others."

"It's fairly easy to do so, considering who antagonizes us," he insisted.

Anzu nodded her head. "I can understand that, but look at just what happened today." Her closed her eyes, and breathed hard. Opening them, she continued, "Yami no Yugi, I hate fighting with you, but this is something that you have to confront. I know that part of this stems from you protecting Yugi, and I can sympathize. I've been there myself."

Smoothing at his pant leg with one hand, he asked, "Did you feel angry with me when I came back without Yugi?"

"In some ways, yes," she conceded, "but in others, no. Why do you think I was worried, when I saw how Locke acted earlier?" She shrugged her shoulders, and eyed the intact bottles on the counter. "For a moment, I wished you hadn't been freed from the Puzzle. I wanted Yugi back with me," she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, "It was that last duel with Marik in Battle City when I finally realized it at last. He was almost gone from me, you both were, and Malik possessed me at will. The whole affair was awful, really. I wanted to get Yugi down from there, and as far from Marik's grasp as I could." Turning back, she smiled sheepishly. "Silly, I know, but I wanted a life with him. I still do." Her expression sobered. "It was irrational anger, I'll admit that. For a moment, I couldn't believe that he again had to suffer because of you. However, I know you aren't so callous." She laughed. "As you can see, I've got some growing up to do, as well."

He leaned backward, bracing himself upon his elbows on the bar. "Take your time in doing so, Anzu. You have much more of it than I."

She took another sip. "Do you think she let Cross wire the photos?"

"It doesn't matter to her," he replied quietly.

Anzu turned her head. "That really bothered you, didn't it?"

He glanced at her from out of the corner of his eye. "Over the years, justice I have dealt has been mostly small scale in nature. That's finally smacking me in the face." Lifting a hand, he dropped it. "The world doesn't care; it runs on its own."

Anzu smiled sadly. "Welcome to the twenty-first century."

He folded his hands over his stomach. "If nothing else, Dartz will try to crush us with the sheer weight of this vast world itself. I can't help but think that has something to do with how Mai is acting, as well."

Before he could continue his point, the front door to the bar swung open, making Anzu jump. Yami no Yugi, however, merely frowned, and commented, "You certainly took your sweet time."

Mai tossed her head to one side, pulling the door shut behind her. "I had a few things to do on the way here." The Sennen Puzzle gleamed, and she acknowledged it with a crinkling of her nose as she walked further into the bar.

"Do you really see them, Mai?" Yami no Yugi inquired.

"The bodies? It's rather plain," she responded.

"The lives you helped take," he answered coldly, "with little regard, might I add."

Mai shook her head, her hand on her hip. "You're quick to judge, and you don't listen well. I didn't help to take them. I just came to see if it was finished."

"You knew of the attack, but you did nothing to stop it," he plainly stated, "That doesn't release you from guilt, not to mention how you took Pegasus's soul."

"He wasn't the only one," she replied, circling the bar, and grabbing the neck of one of the bottles to hold to the light.

"Mai, stop it!" Anzu cried, "You can't be this flippant! These are people's lives!"

Mai nodded her head at the bottle she had selected, and turned her back on the two, stepping deftly over the fallen bartender's body to search for a few intact glasses. Anzu stared after her in disdain, while Yami no Yugi felt something of a matter of latent understanding beginning to dawn on him at last.

The bright sun gleamed off two glasses as Mai held them up. "Oh, we're already drinking water," Anzu commented, waving them away. She withdrew her hand quickly as Mai slammed them down on the bar, the glass tinkling from the impact.

Popping the cork on the bottle, she turned it to the side, and poured dark liquor into both of the glasses. "We have to celebrate the fact that the King of Games still lives." She held the bottle to her lips, and took a swig from it. Smacking her lips, she thumped the bottle down, splaying one hand on either side of it with a smirk directed at Yami no Yugi.

He narrowed his eyes at her. He heavily doubted that Mai was going to try to get him drunk, otherwise his impaired judgment would give him a significant handicap. "Come on, have a drink on me, Pharaoh. Year's good." He moved the glass over with the side of his hand, refusing to look at it.

"The police officers?" He inquired quietly.

"Injured, but alive, all of them," she answered curtly, "The paramedics are attending to them. After that, their use to DOMA is over."

"What'll happen to them?" Anzu asked, worried.

"Their souls will be taken by the soldiers, and then the soldiers will move on," she answered, and Anzu's eyes widened at that, "Take my advice, kid, and drink. You'll need it."

Anzu numbly reached forward, and picked up the glass by the stem to raise to her lips. She grimaced at the bitter flavor, but nonetheless swallowed. "Why?" She croaked.

"Tomorrow is the last day for Earth as we know it," Mai explained, "Today, DOMA will begin the process early, and begin culling. When the Leviathan rises, it will shatter the Earth. Dartz has determined that, in order to reduce the suffering, and give the Leviathan further power to hasten the process, it's now time to take souls en masse."

"It'll be noticed," Yami no Yugi commented.

"There isn't a point anymore," Mai answered, "After tomorrow, nothing will."

He grasped his glass by the cup, and raised it to his lips, pausing for a moment. "Mai, that doesn't sound like you."

"Both of you have said that, and it's getting on my last nerve," she growled, "Both of you hardly know me, yet you make judgments as to what I might or might not do. If your reactions to my duel with Jonouchi showed anything, it was that you chose to see only what you wanted of me."

Yami no Yugi set his glass aside. "I'll concede to that, but don't accuse Anzu of it. It's my own ignorance, even if that isn't an excuse."

Mai locked her gaze on his. "Do you still see the world in black and white?"

"You seem to," he answered evenly, "You think that allowing the souls of everyone on this Earth to be taken, and for a new Earth to be formed, will provide salvation to mankind from suffering. You gamble on something that you don't even know to be true."

"You're one to talk," she answered pointedly, "At least I know what sort of world this is. Pegasus was nothing compared to the sheer low lives I've taken."

"But it's not just them, it's all of us!" Anzu cried out, "You can't say all of humanity must pay because of them!"

"I'm not," she responded, frustration clear to hear in her voice as the stone around her neck glowed for a moment, "Anzu, do you want to keep this world, knowing what goes on, even in our own city?" Anzu glanced at Yami no Yugi at that, and Mai went on, "The same city where a gun was put to your head, or where a bomber nearly blew up a ferris wheel that you were riding?"

Anzu shook her head. "You can't use those examples! You weren't there! Dartz told you about them!"

"They still happened," Mai insisted.

"They happened, yes, but outside of you using them as examples, I don't see any genuine care from you," Anzu argued, "The Mai I know wouldn't be like that! You are trying to justify this to yourself; nothing more, and nothing less."

"If I didn't care, I wouldn't be doing this," Mai answered slowly, as if Anzu was hard of hearing, "or would you rather this world continue as it is? A world where people like Yugi suffer? It can and will break you, Anzu, and little to no one will care."

She took a deep breath. "Then that's fine, Mai. If I expected anything else, it was because I wasn't old enough to understand."

Mai turned her attention to Yami no Yugi. "And what about you?" She asked.

He took another drink, and winced as the alcohol burned his throat. He noted that Anzu took a rather hard gulp herself, thumping the glass down and bracing herself on her elbow with a gasp. "I owe you an apology. Marik was created because of me," he responded.

Her eyes narrowed. "It isn't enough." She picked up the bottle to down another swig. "You saying sorry doesn't make up for the nightmares, for the wasted days and nights, and for the feeling that I would never be good enough, that I would never be strong enough. That duel with Marik stripped me of my pride, and I had to rely on someone else to help me," she pointed at him, "just like you once did."

The comment stung him, but he refused to take the bait.

"Well?" She asked, leaning forward, her hair falling over her breasts, "Isn't that what you've always wanted, Yami no Yugi? To be free of the Puzzle? You are now. I'll bet without Yugi around—"

Glass fell on the floor to shatter as Yami no Yugi stood up. Mai gasped as he grabbed the end of her dangling hair, and tugged her forward, her legs hitting the back of the counter. "Don't you dare!" He snarled venomously.

Anzu slammed her fist down on the counter, screaming, "ENOUGH, BOTH OF YOU! IT'S JUST A CARD GAME!" Yami no Yugi and Mai paused to stare at her, her face red and her chest heaving. "I'm not going to lose anyone else, not over something so petty as this!" Anzu kicked her bar stool to the floor. "Mai," she hissed, "If you really want to prove how strong a person you are, then do it! Take my soul, not his."

Mai shoved Yami no Yugi's hand off of her hair, and narrowed her eyes at her. "That proves nothing, Anzu, and you know it. You aren't even worth my time."

"Wanna bet?" She withdrew her deck to slam down onto the bar. "You and me, right now," she glared over her shoulder at Yami no Yugi, who looked surprised at the deck's appearance, "with no interference." Turning her attention back to Mai, she continued, "I beat one of the Big Five while you were out cold. I can take you on as well."

Mai snorted at that.

Anzu smirked, and felt Yami no Yugi's hand on the side of her arm. She tried to shrug it off, only for him to grip it tighter. Feeling his nails through her clothing, she growled through gritted teeth over her shoulder, "That hurts!"

"You don't know what you're doing," he replied in concern.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm challenging Mai," she answered in annoyance, wrenching at his hand until he finally let go, "I'm not going to stand here, and watch you two destroy each other."

Mai shook her head. "Anzu, you should listen to him. This would be suicide for you."

"I don't see you powering your duel disk up," Anzu pointed out. Mai's eyes widened at that. "The Leviathan needs as many souls as it can take in order to eliminate all life on Earth, yes? Then why not duel me? I'm willing to go, and it'll be an easy win for you."

Mai's fingers twitched at her side, but she didn't make a movement otherwise. Yami no Yugi, realizing at last what Anzu was trying to do, backed up from the bar. "Mai, you might as well duel her, since you're playing with a handicap."

"What?!" Mai exclaimed, switching her gaze over to him, and fixing him with a fierce glare.

Folding his arms, Yami no Yugi shook his head. "That Orichalcos stone you wear. I wore it myself, and lost. You wore it while dueling Jonouchi, and nearly lost. If you insist on playing while wearing it, you aren't an adequate challenge for me." He indicated Anzu off-hand, who continued to stand resolutely before Mai. "Duel her instead, if you insist on wearing it. Take her soul if it comes down to it. Prove me wrong. If you want to duel me directly, then take it off."

"How dare you!" Mai snapped, swinging around the side of the bar in a fury. Yami no Yugi stared icily back at her. The next moment, his view was blocked by Anzu, who planted herself between the two of them, her arms spread. Through gnashed teeth, Mai hissed, "Move!"

Anzu shook her head. "You go through me first."

The Harpie Lady screeched, the window cracking under its claw outside.

Mai glanced over at her monster, then at her duel disk, and then back at Anzu. "Anzu," she began, her voice having a note of regret in it, "don't make me do this."

"I won't if you take the stone off," she replied, pointing back to the bar, "Take it off, and smash it. I'll let you pass."

Mai glared at her, the stone pulsing brighter. Raising her finger, she answered, "One final warning, Anzu. Move." Anzu held her ground, her fists clenching and unclenching. "You think you'll be with Yugi when your soul gets taken?" Mai hissed, "Is that it? You think you'll be with everyone, happily awaiting Yami no Yugi to rescue you? You're a fool. Yugi won't be there for you. No one will. I've been in the darkness, Anzu. You'll be alone, with no one to hear your screams."

"I'll take it," she challenged, though her voice shook.

"Don't make me laugh," Mai responded in annoyance.

"Then do it already!" Anzu snapped, "Duel me! Take my soul! Prove me wrong!"

Mai gnashed her teeth, and whipped her hand through the air to grasp at the Orichalcos stone's string. Tugging at it with an exclamation of pain, her eyes wide, she broke the string, the stone falling into the palm of her hand. She slammed it down upon the surface of the counter, and fumbled blindly about before seizing the neck of the bottle. Swinging it, she brought it crashing down upon the Orichalcos stone, liquor spilling all over the bar. Breathing hard, Mai collapsed onto a bar stool, slumping down over the counter as the stone pulsed weakly, slowly fading away into nothing.

The Harpies disappeared, leaving nothing but the sound of the desert winds outside, the music from the jukebox dripping of the alcohol, and Mai's labored breathing. Slowly, she pushed herself up, and twisted about to stare at Anzu and Yami no Yugi. Anzu took one step forward, but Yami no Yugi held out a hand to stop her. "Mai?" He asked tentatively.

Bracing her elbow upon the bar, and grimacing at the stickiness of the alcohol, she rose unsteadily to her feet, shutting her eyes as she shifted from foot to foot. Taking a heavy breath, she drew her hands forward, and flipped her hair back over her shoulders, opening her eyes. Pointing at Yami no Yugi, she demanded, "Now, that duel you promised me?"


	3. Chapter 3

The reason this chapter took so long to write was the duel itself. I find the dynamics between the characters in this anime more interesting than the duels themselves, therefore I had difficulty scripting a battle scene. I am still not happy about how it turned out.

Otogi's line about vacation days is a reference to _Undertale_. The game Yugi is playing in Yami no Yugi's memory is _Castlevania: Lament of Innocence._

I hate American talk radio. Considering that _Yu-Gi-Oh_ took place in the early 2000's, what I have the fictional announcer say was very similar to what I heard political pundits say on talk radio at that point in time.

There's some Polarshipping in here. Most of this was written today, due to my being confined to bed. I've had trouble writing this due to stress from work draining me. One chapter remains.

In writing the duel, I listened to "For Your Eyes Only" by Blondie. In writing Yami no Yugi's conversation with Anzu in the motel room, I listened to "Leon With Claire" from the _Resident Evil 2_ soundtrack.

* * *

Wind whistled, causing a flag pole's chain to bang ominously.

Anzu stood between Mai and Yami no Yugi, glancing between them as she spoke. "As decided by both duelists, we will be using the rules set by Battle City. Usage of the Seal of Orichalcos by either side will result in an automatic forfeit. As this is an unofficial match, no titles will be won or lost. Any questions?" Both remained silent, staring intently at each other. Mai winked once at Yami no Yugi, and his mouth twisted in a half-smirk. She raised her arm in the air. "Begin!" She swung her arm down, and backed away to sit upon the park bench. As the two duelists took their positions at either side of the field behind her, Anzu noted the utter foolishness of the situation. Joggers and walkers were collapsed around different areas of the park, and here they both were playing a card game. Folding her one leg over the other, she decided that she might as well get comfortable.

Alpha stared up at Yami no Yugi from his hand. Fair start. Rolling out his shoulder, he thought on Mai's previous duel with Jonouchi. The spell cards she'd stockpiled while with DOMA tilted the duel more heavily toward her, but most of them were buffs for her Harpies.

"Ladies first, for old time's sake?" Mai asked, a hint of playfulness in her tone.

Yami no Yugi at first felt disdain for her inappropriateness, but let it go, rising to the challenge. "Go right ahead."

"I summon Amazonness Blowpiper, in attack mode!" Mai declared.

The morning after the Kaiba Corp blimp had docked back in Domino City, two duels commenced. Pocketing his deck, which once again held the Red Eyes Black Dragon, Jonouchi declared gratefully, "Thanks for never giving up on me."

Yami no Yugi smiled at him. "You never gave me a reason to."

Stretching and yawning, Jonouchi asked, "You wanna grab some food? We're not meeting the others 'til one."

Yami no Yugi shook his head. "Mai and I have a duel."

Jonouchi raised his eyebrow. "Oh?"

He smiled. "A late-night challenge she issued to me."

Jonouchi grinned. "Shit, it'll be hard to figure out who to cheer for on that one."

Yami no Yugi caught a yawn in his hand. "You're coming, then?"

"You bet!"

Amazoness Blowpiper shrieked as Alpha tore through her. Yami no Yugi decided against becoming cocky, as it was only a warm-up.

Mai's eyes widened in surprise as the two students approached her. Standing from where she had been leaning against a lamp post, she inquired, "Jonouchi, what're you doing here?"

He grinned, indicating himself with his thumb. "Had to pull myself out of bed to watch my favorite woman!"

She batted her eyes at him, and replied, "Oh, you're too kind." Turning to look at his companion, she asked, "Ready, Yami no Yugi?"

Jonouchi turned his head, and gave a short laugh. "Told her at last, huh? Took you long enough."

"Always," he replied, holding out his arm, and allowing his duel disk to connect into battle mode.

Holding out his hand, he commanded Alpha and Beta to the graveyard to call forth the Black Magician. Mai's gaze betrayed nothing, hidden behind her three Harpie Ladies. Taken backward a step by the explosive destruction of all three Ladies, Mai felt the heat. Her Harpie's Pet Dragon, which she had been looking forward to summoning in the next turn, was rendered useless. Shutting her eyes, she drew from her deck. Opening them, she widened them at the sight of the Seal of Orichalcos. Her gaze flitted up at Yami no Yugi, and back down at the card, her hand shaking with indecision. She was alone again, in the rain, with no one to turn to, haunted by nightmare after nightmare.

Concerned, Yami no Yugi called out, "Mai, what is it? What did you draw?"

Mai turned her head away, trying not to listen. What did he know of falling? He always won. He was always seen as perfect. What did he know of loneliness, surrounded by a group of high school students.

"Mai!" Anzu rose, her eyes flashing, "If you drew the Seal, discard it! The moment you play it is the moment that you forfeit!"

What did that foolish girl know? She could play it, and take the Pharaoh's soul, ending this cruel world forever. He'd stood there like everyone else, and watched her suffer.

She'd gritted her teeth, that day in the park after Battle City, as Harpie's Pet Dragon fell noisily to the ground, slain by a powered up Black Magician Girl. "Mai, don't give up! You're better than that!" Jonouchi had called out.

She shut her eyes, and breathed hard as Anzu cried, "Mai, please, listen!" Opening them, she gasped out a breath, her teeth gritted and eyes wide as she stared at her opponent. Yami no Yugi held her gaze, and slowly nodded. Snapping his cards together in one hand, he held out his arms. Mai set down her cards upon her disk, save one. Taking it between her hands, Mai tore the Seal of Orichalcos in half, and deposited it on the ground. Anzu nodded her head, and sat back down. Yami no Yugi's cards parted again. Summoning Harpie Queen in defense mode, she declared her turn over.

Yami no Yugi sighed, and felt as if a weight had been lifted from the duel. She was a stronger person than she gave herself credit for. Mai evidenced that herself, two turns later, by trapping the Dark Magician with Gravity's Bind, buying her time to summon and buff the Harpie's Pet Dragon. Yami no Yugi, however, commended her for destroying his prized monster with a grin, and reset the board with Mirror Force when Mai commanded the Harpie's Pet Dragon to attack King's Knight, wiping the massive beast from the field. Discarding King's Knight, Yami no Yugi called Swift Gaia to the field, prompting Mai to comment, "It's like Duelist Kingdom all over again," as she placed Amazonness Paladin in defense mode. Amazonness Paladin cried out, her head flying backward as Swift Gaia sliced her in half with his lance. Mai winced at the smoke that spewed on her end. As Yami no Yugi declared his turn over, she glanced down at her hand, her trap card catching her eye. If there was one thing she knew she couldn't do, it was bluff him. "I place one trap card face down, and summon Harpie's Brother in defense mode!"

In some ways, it was a relief, he supposed, a duel without stakes, but the dream-like nature of it disturbed him. He knew that Mai had the capacity to the be callous to the suffering of others, as he once had, but this was something entirely different. Yet, he was proving no better, dueling her in a park filled with collapsed bodies. Card of Sanctity allowed him to replenish his hand, but with nothing with which he could break the dead lock. "Mai, what happened to your convertible?" He asked.

She shrugged. "Sold it to buy the bike. Ended up being more useful, since I could weave through traffic better."

"How come? Didn't those other tournaments give out prize money?" Anzu asked.

Mai sighed, lowering her hand. "Money's never a problem for me, Anzu, you know better. I was starting my life over, and the convertible was just a reminder of that."

"Why not your deck?" Yami no Yugi asked.

She smirked. "Old habits die hard, I suppose."

Yami no Yugi returned it as he stared down at Kuriboh in his hand.

Their duel the day after Battle City had drawn a bit of a crowd in its own, being impromptu and largely unknown, their audience mostly being children and their parents. At the end of the duel, the children clustered about him, cheering.

Mai had clasped her hand on his shoulder with a proud smile. "Kid, enjoy it while it lasts."

Yami no Yugi had turned back to look at her, and asked, "Come see me sometime?"

She'd placed her fingers to her lips. "Maybe, I have a little sister to look after first." She turned and waved at Jonouchi, who darted over to her.

A tug on his pant leg drew his attention, and he turned back around to see a little boy staring up at him. "Mr. Muto, that was amazing!"

Commanding Gaia forward, he ordered him to destroy Harpie's Brother.

Mai grinned, flipping up her Trap Hole of Spikes card, causing Gaia to crash noisily down, and disappear from view, his mount screaming in agony. "You're making this too easy for me, Yami no Yugi!"

In annoyance, he summoned Gazelle on the next turn, and used Fissure, turning Mai's tactic on herself when she commanded Harpie's Brother to attack. "Back to basics, then," she muttered, summoning Ice Water in defense mode. He agreed shortly before summoning Gamma in attack mode, and commanding him to strike down Ice Water.

"I'm leaving in two days," she informed him as they sat on the steps to the museum, and watch patrons ascend into its halls, "Not sure when I'll be back."

Yami no Yugi paused before replying, "Hopefully, you'll be able to see me off when you return?"

Mai's hand clenched on her knee. "Stop it, I just met you, really. Don't be so adamant about leaving."

"I could say the same for you," he replied evenly, staring up the pillars that stood in front of the museum.

She grasped his arm, drawing his attention back to her. "Ever get tempted to run away?"

Feeling Yugi's presence beside him for a moment, he knew he had to be truthful. "Multiple times."

"What's stopping you?" She asked quietly.

"A lack of my own body, for one," he replied, and she nodded at the obvious answer, "and the fact being that this isn't my world."

"Second one's bullshit, and you know it," she replied, letting go of him to rise, "You stay here long enough, you'll realize it's a rich man's world only." She chuckled. "Guess that's why Kaiba's always pissed off."

Rising, he reminded her, "You didn't answer my question."

She placed a hand to his cheek, and stroked it with her thumb. "I've seen enough people important to me vanish in my lifetime. Not you, too."

Gazelle lurched directly for Mai only for her to yell, "Not yet!" She raised her hand, and declared, "I activate Amazoness Willpower! Rise again, Amazoness Paladin!" The female warrior, her eyes closed, and her hands clutching her sword. Mai bit her lip to contain her excitement. Sometimes patience did pay off. "Amazoness Paladin, attack Gazelle, and end this game!" The Paladin's eyes shot open, and she lunged with a fierce shriek, impaling the beast. Gazelle shrieked in pain, and vanished.

Mai gasped as Yami no Yugi held his duel disk up the air, and displayed, just beyond the figure of Gamma, the 200 life points on his disk rapidly ticking down to zero. She thought she saw something shoot through his eyes as the counter hit zero, and he put his free hand to his shoulder as if he'd been hurt by an electric shock. The next moment, however, his vision refocused. Yami no Yugi couldn't help but feel a little sheepish at his own reaction, as Amazoness Paladin disappeared before him. He realized how foolish he'd been, knowing full well that if he had lost, he wouldn't die. His gaze drifted to Anzu, and he realized that she had been right all along. Anzu rose from the bench, and cleared her throat, awkwardly breaking the silence. Raising her arm in the air, she called out, "The winner of this match is Mai Kujaku!" As she brought it down, Yami no Yugi commanded the holographic projectors on his side to shoot backward into his duel disk, and strode forward, his disk disconnecting from battle mode, his gaze intent upon Mai. Kujaku numbly recalled her projectors, and moved forward, grasping his hand in hers to shake once. "Congratulations," he declared.

Mai smiled at that, and replied, dropping his hand, "Well, I guess I have no choice but to come with you, then. If I defeated you, then Dartz definitely well."

XXXXXX

"We're going to get arrested for this," Anzu commented, staring at the open car door. The driver was nowhere to be seen, and the keys were still in the ignition.

"I can't take both of you on my motorcycle, and we can't afford to get separated now," Mai responded plainly, tapping her heeled boot, "Either way, I'm leaving this town, and you should be, too."

Yami no Yugi turned to look at her. "There's a hunt on for us, and taking that," he pointed at the car, "would be the same as placing a target on our backs."

Mai folded her arms. "I'll keep that from happening. If that duel demonstrated anything to me, it's that I'm going to need to save your ass. It's your choice what you do, but I'll tell you this," she glanced between each of them as she spoke, "Anzu, we'll need someone on the frontline. Yami no Yugi, without Timaeus, we'll be lost. If that's not enough to convince you, there's nothing else I can say."

Anzu took a heavy breath. She slid in, muttering, "Oh great, it's an automatic. Here's to hoping I don't wreck it."

"We'll skip the first few gas stations. Once we've put enough distance between ourselves and this place, we'll stop," Mai declared.

"And if we find Jonouchi and Honda?" Yami no Yugi inquired, grasping the roof of the car, and clenching his fingers over it.

"Then we'll have more important things to worry about," she replied, her gaze lingering on his as she turned away, "I'll see you soon."

Yami no Yugi released the roof, causing the car to rock slightly. Anzu stopped it by shooting out a foot onto the pavement. Climbing into the passenger side, he slammed the door behind him. "Let's be off, then," he growled.

Anzu laughed, and he turned in surprise to look at her. "Just wondering how far I'll fly through the windshield," she explained before releasing the parking brake, and shifting the transmission into drive.

XXXXXX

The gas station rose upon a slope. With a relieved sigh, Anzu followed Mai's motorcycle up to it, and stopped at the nearest pump. "Finally." Mai parked her motorcycle a distance off from the pumps, and, after looking over her shoulder at them, engaged the kickstand. She rose, walking toward the edge of the slope. Anzu released her seat belt, and removed her cell phone from her pocket. "We've got bars. I'm going to make a few calls."

"I'm going to talk to Mai," he decided, releasing his seatbelt and opening his side door.

Anzu nodded. "If you need any help, just let me know."

Leaning against the station's side wall, Anzu flipped open her cell phone, and dialed Jonouchi's phone first. She gnashed her teeth at the busy signal she received, and felt half-compelled to hurl it at the ground when calling Honda's gave the same result. The third call, however, produced a different result. "Anzu?" Otogi answered, his voice barely audible over the roar of the pick-up truck's motor, "Where the hell have you four been?! I've been trying to reach you for the last six hours!"

Anzu sighed in relief, and put a hand to her head. "Sorry. We took a bit of a side trip."

"Oh, really?" He asked, his sarcasm plain to hear, "We hit a bit of a roadblock, ourselves."

She smiled sardonically, taking care to keep her voice down, "Did yours involve a train derailing?"

"What?!" The sound of squealing tires came, followed by an annoyed exclamation from Rebecca in the background. "Are you all right? Where are you guys?"

"It's a long story, but Yami no Yugi and I got separated from Jonouchi and Honda when the cars uncoupled. Theirs slowed to a stop, but we flew off a cliff."

"…And you're all right because magic…Of course…." Otogi's voice sounded muffled, and Anzu figured that he had probably buried his face in the steering wheel.

Crackling was heard over the line, and Rebecca asked, "Anzu, is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me, Rebecca. How's your grandfather?" She asked, sliding down to sit on the concrete, the ice machine humming beside her.

"He was resting up until Otogi woke him up!" She accused, to which Otogi retorted that he had a good reason to.

"I'm glad that you're all right," she replied.

Rebecca, much to her surprise, answered, "We had a run-in earlier with one of Dartz's horsemen," she sighed, "Technically there were two of them, but only one dueled Otogi and me. It was that short one with the brown hair, Varon, I think. The woman with the long blonde hair was with him. I'd know that face anywhere, it was Mai Kujaku." Anzu's eyes widened, and she swung her head to stare out at Yami no Yugi as he stood beside Mai at the edge of the slope. Rebecca, ashamed, continued, "He made both of us look like jokes in front of her. We're lucky that he let us go."

"Mai's actually with us," Anzu explained, her eyes narrowing, "She's going to help us take down DOMA, but we'll keep an eye on her."

"'Us' as in just you and the pharaoh, right?" Otogi asked, his echoing voice indicating that Rebecca had set the phone on speaker, "I'd be careful around her. Varon seemed to be chasing her, for some reason, so she could be running from him, as well."

"That's odd," Anzu muttered, her conversation with Yami no Yugi in the bar replaying itself in her mind, "She seemed to just be doing patrols for DOMA."

"At this point, it could be both," Otogi offered, "If it's really the end times that DOMA is preaching about, she's probably just trying to cover her rear end for when everything goes to hell."

Rebecca snorted. "Oh yeah, like you so often do."

Otogi laughed. "I can't go to Hell, Rebecca. I'm all out of vacation days!" Sobering, he asked, "So, what's the plan?"

"Find Honda and Jonouchi. Yami no Yugi and I ran into a town that's been cleared out by Orichalcos soldiers. The state police are beginning to search for the four of us. Apparently they're pinning the train's derailment on us."

"'Cleared out?'" Rebecca repeated in shock.

"DOMA is beginning to slowly take the souls of town dwellers. The police force is already under its control here. Avoid any towns if you can, and Otogi, don't get pulled over."

"This can't be happening…" Rebecca whispered, and Otogi muffled a curse with his hand.

"If Jonouchi and Honda, or you two, get caught, then what?" Otogi asked, "Doesn't Isis have diplomatic immunity, given her position?"

"Yeah, but it would take too long for her to fly over here. If I'm right, she and her brothers are probably dealing with their own problems if this is worldwide. I'd have more luck at a Japanese consulate," Anzu replied, shifting her phone to her other ear, "Quite frankly, I don't know where the closest one is. Even though Seto Kaiba hung up on us earlier, I'm going to try to call him, but this is a last resort."

"Got it. We'll keep an eye out for Jonouchi and Honda. You keep yourselves safe out there," Otogi responded.

"And watch yourself, Anzu," Rebecca warned, "I don't trust Mai or Yami no Yugi. She's a cold woman, and he's already let my Yugi down."

"I'll keep that in mind," she replied gently, "See you soon."

Anzu dialed the main line number for Kaiba Corp, only to be put on hold. After hearing a pop singer practically screaming in her ear with a candy sweet voice for two minutes, she hit END, and muttered, "I should have known." Rising, she went inside.

Mai kept her back to him as Yami no Yugi approached, her hands at her sides. As he drew within a few steps of her, she folded her arms, and chuckled to herself. "Here I stand, in the middle of a desert with a man without a name. I ask him what we have learned. He tells me, 'Nothing.'" She turned back to look at him. "So, I beat the King of Games. Didn't even need the Seal of Orichalcos. Guess I should be basking in my victory," she lifted her hands, and dropped them at her sides, "All hail the Queen of Games! Even if that match had been for the title, it wouldn't have mattered. The world is ending tomorrow, and I helped cause it."

"And I lost my partner, just because I wanted to prove that I was strong enough to control the darkness within myself," he replied.

Mai pushed her hair behind her ear. "You know, I missed you. Did you ever watch my tournaments?"

"Whenever Yugi and I could," he replied genuinely, cracking a smile, "No one could touch you."

Mai smiled sadly. "You know, I did try to call a few times."

He raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"

She closed her eyes, and shook her head. "I slammed my hand down over the button on the cradle whenever the phone began to ring." She waved her hand to change the subject, despite the disquiet it gave him. "I don't understand you. Yami no Yugi, you told me who were, that night in Domino City, but I had never thought of you as some sort of avenging angel."

"That was my past, but I grew beyond it. Why would telling you then have made it any easier, Mai? I wanted to be your friend, not to drop my entire nature on you in one night," he replied, pacing back and forth in irritation.

"We already were friends, or don't you remember?" She responded levelly, keeping her feet planted. "That night, when you defeated the Player Killer of Darkness, you inspired me to do better, so I could defeat you."

"That was superficial," he responded.

Mai flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Oh, honey, that's how most friendships begin."

"And normally, it takes a long time to admit one's faults, even to a friend," Yami no Yugi replied, stopping, "Don't you think that maybe I was ashamed of how blood thirsty I had once been, and maybe that was why I wanted to prove, not to Rafael, but to myself, that I could keep myself in line?" Placing his hand over the Puzzle, he added in a somber tone, "And don't you think I sometimes worried that Yugi wanted to shatter this, after knowing what atrocities I had committed?"

Mai put a hand on her hip. "But why not tell me the truth, when I was tortured in a Shadow Game?" Her eyes narrowed to slits. "Did I seem wounded to you?"

"Did I?" He returned.

She was about to reply when the sound of sirens pierced the air. She spun on her heel. "Damn it!" Yami no Yugi curiously went over to her side, and she pointed down the slope. Red and blue flashed against the scrub brush in the distance from a few police cars clustered together. "Checkpoint, and out in the middle of nowhere, no less. Even if that wasn't suspicious alone, you two are driving a commandeered car." She kicked the dirt in annoyance. "We'll have to find a way around."

"Any alternatives?" He inquired.

She pointed to a side route branching off into the distance. "They'll lead through a few rough towns, but if you wanna disappear, we'll have to follow it. Problem is, it doesn't hook back immediately to the main roads. We'll have to take the side route for the remainder of the day and part of the night. The three of us will be too tired to continue, so we'll rest somewhere. Tomorrow, however, we'll be back on the main road, and on our way to Honda and Jonouchi."

The two police officers lifted their heads, the sun glancing off their mirrored sunglasses. "Mai?" Yami no Yugi inquired, "Are they staring at us?"

"Who?" He nodded his head toward the two officers, who continued to stand there with their heads raised. Mai slowly waved her left arm, and the two officers jerked, and darted off. "Get Anzu. We're leaving."

Nodding, he turned and walked back underneath the gas station's canopy, passing by a van load of people who were setting up a basket at a nearby picnic table at the top of the slope, and commenting on the scene below. Mai clacked over to her motorcycle, and swung one leg over it, her rear end catching his eye. "I'll set out first, so we don't look like a convoy. If they start to close the side road, don't speed up; it'll just look more suspicious." He nodded, and she lifted her helmet between her hands. "I'll see you soon."

Shutting the gas cap on the side of the car, Anzu looked up at his approach. "What's wrong?"

"I'll explain on the way," he replied, "We have to get going."

The reds and blues of the cruiser lights flashed over Anzu and Yami no Yugi as she drove slowly toward the checkpoint, only to swing the wheel left. "It looks like they were in the middle of blocking this off, as well," Anzu noted as they passed sideways-facing sawhorses, one of which was being carried by an officer. Glancing in her rearview mirror, she noted, "Well, we're not being followed, at least."

Sighing in relief, he pointed out a dot moving in the distance ahead of them. "That must be Mai."

Anzu nodded. "I'll keep her in my sight. If you're going to be sitting for a while, you might as well go to sleep. I threw some snacks on the backseat if you're hungry."

Curling his legs closer about himself, he tucked his head into his knees, and drew his arm over them to shut out the light. "Sleep well, Your Highness," she comforted, "Dream a better dream."

XXXXXX

Yugi sighed heavily in annoyance, rubbing at his eyes. "One more try and I'll get it." Glancing over at the clock, Yami no Yugi smiled at his friend, as he had been saying approximately the same thing for the last forty-five minutes. It was two in the morning, and the boy's tiredness was easy to see, with how he leaned heavily on the couch. He gripped the controller tightly, his hands sweating. Biting his lip, he mashed the cross button once more, toggling the left analog stick as he sent Mr. Leon Belmont into yet another series of jumps. "Come on, come on!" Yugi growled, leaning forward as Belmont cartwheeled through the air from platform to platform in the darkness, a sole spotlight shining the way. Yugi's eyes widened hopefully as the doorway at the final platform rose to greet him.

Belmont slipped, plummeting with a cry into the darkness. Yugi dropped the controller into his lap, and put his head in his hands. "Not again!"

"Yugi, could I try?" Yami no Yugi asked.

Yugi glanced up at him, and smiled. Shutting his eyes, he caught a yawn in his hand. "I don't see why not," he winked, "I'm just probably not going to get the controller back from you afterward."

Yami no Yugi blinked, embarrassed, and Yugi's tired smile broadened. Turning away, he stretched, and set off mumbling to himself, "I think I'll put a bed in my soul room. Nice, fluffy pillows on it…" As his voice died away, Yami no Yugi turned his attention excitedly to the game.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed until Yugi's amused laugh caused him to drop the controller. "I should've known. Pharaoh, it's half past eight."

XXXXXX

"I hope that we will find somewhere to stop soon," Yami no Yugi muttered, raising his hand to rub at his forehead. The sun had drifted below the horizon, bathing the desert in an ominous purple light.

Anzu glanced at him for a moment before returning her gaze to the road, the tail lights of Mai's motorcycle shining back at them through the windshield. "You can sleep longer if you want."

He slowly shook his head. "The jolting of the car makes it hard for me to relax."

"Sorry," she replied sheepishly, and he waved a hand to indicate that it wasn't a criticism. With a chuckle, she added, "I'm glad it's not me that's sleeping. I'd probably embarrass myself, since I sometimes talk in my sleep."

That earned a smirk from him, but it fell. "You miss him too."

Anzu sighed. "You have Yugi's memories. I guess you know a thing or two about us, then." Yami said nothing as she continued, "There was once a time when we were about six. I was sick for a week with a stomach virus. Couldn't even move too far from my bed without having to climb back into it, it was that awful. The only people I saw were my parents. Come the sixth day, when my mother left the window open to let in some air, I heard someone yelling my name." She smiled, "It took me a while to get up, but I managed to, at last, holding onto the window's curtain for support. There was Yugi, holding his grandpa's hand on the sidewalk." She chuckled, "He looked so relieved to see me at the window, and yelled up at me that he'd thought I'd died, since he hadn't seen me in so long. Little kids make big deals out of anything."

A car's horn blared as it sped by. "Looks like I was too close to the yellow line," she muttered, her voice betraying more nerves than annoyance, "I have no idea how Americans can drive on this side of the road. If I get in a wreck, we're done. I can't believe we actually did this."

"What choice did we have? If anyone had been left standing in that town, we would've gotten help."

Anzu was silent at that for a few moments before replying, "It's awful, but I can't help but wonder what's going on back in Domino City. We saw all those people lying lifeless, and here I am, worried about back home," she choked as she added, "That man slumped over the mailbox could've been my dad."

He thought of reaching out to her, but decided against it, as it might cause her to jerk the wheel. "Anzu, you don't know that," he comforted.

She sighed. "You see now why we can't tell our parents about any of what we go through. It makes things too dangerous. It's not a nice thing to admit, but I envied Shizuka to a point. She wasn't as involved with all of this until Battle City, and now she's home." She shook her head. "Look, let's change the subject. You partial to any kind of music?"

Taking it as a cue to turn the dial on the car's radio, he replied, "Not particularly. Anything that's quiet will suffice."

"There should be a classic music station. Some Tchaikovsky would help us forget a little of today," she replied with a bitter smile.

Static scraped as the stations switched, landing on a deep man's voice, which appeared to be in the middle of a rant. "See folks, this is exactly what I'm talking about! Train jackings in our own backyard! I've been warning you for years that this is what will happen if America doesn't take its security seriously! We've learned nothing from nine-eleven!"

Anzu rolled her eyes. "Talk radio. Wonder if it's as much a train wreck here as it is at home."

A beeping was heard, and the announcer declared, "Caller, you're on with Timothy Bickel!"

"Thanks Tim," replied a nervous woman's voice, "Amelia Beale, here. Long-time listener, first-time caller. See, quite frankly I think this is a problem with the youth in general, these days. I pulled my kids out of the education system after I read my oldest daughter's diary, and saw that her so-called best friend gave her a bottle of beer. Things just aren't what they used to be when I was their age, Tim, and it's a shame."

"Oh, agreed, Amelia! The kids these days are so out of control! Back in my day, I remember my daddy would bring out the belt if we so much as put a toe out of line! Now, everything is so politically correct that you can't even hug your kid without someone threatening to call the cops on you!"

Anzu snorted. "Verdict?"

Yami no Yugi smirked. "Next!" Turning the dial a few more times, he let go as the soft music of a string quartet drifted out of the speakers.

Anzu reached over, and gently placed her hand on his wrist. "Yami no Yugi, please, get some sleep if you can. I'll need you to take up the night watch."

He turned his head turned the window, and closed his eyes. Her voice faded into the hum of the car's motor, and Yami no Yugi slipped into a light sleep.

XXXXXX

He cracked his eyes open at the sound of plastic clunking, and glanced over to see Anzu shutting the car off. Moonlight streamed in through the driver's side window. Releasing her seat belt, she stretched, her eyes closed, and pressed her back against the seat behind her. Low buildings stood around them, with lights flickering in the windows. Through the windshield, he could see Mai, her motorcycle leaning against a side wall, walking over to the car, the lot sparsely populated with cars. Anzu rolled down the window.

"I'm going to take my bike to a gated lot."

Anzu rubbed her temples. "I guess they check ID there? What if this car's gone tomorrow?"

Mai shrugged. "We'll improvise. You saw the motel we passed, right?"

Anzu nodded her head. "The Red Stallion?"

Mai handed her a few bills. "It won't be luxurious, but it'll have to do. I'll meet you there." Remounting her motorcycle, and placing her helmet back on, she sped off.

Anzu rolled her head toward Yami no Yugi, and caught a yawn in her hand. "Guess we should get going, then." He nodded, undoing his seatbelt, and reaching behind himself to pull the snacks out of the backseat. Anzu, after taking care to lock the car, led the way onto the road, lined with chain link fences, trash cans, and chunks of concrete. Street lights sparsely lit the road in a few areas. Anzu pointed at a building with a red, galloping horse painted on the wall of its front porch. Extending to the left of the porch were closed doors. A sign in the motel's lawn advertised vacancies.

Country music droned, and a ceiling fan chopped at the stuffy air. The young man with greasy hair and bags under his eyes accepted the cash Anzu handed over without a word, and tossed two keys out on the counter before her, each bearing a white tag. Yami no Yugi glanced over at an old cuckoo clock set into the wall, and saw that it was half past one in the morning. "One single guy with two women, I can't see how we don't stick out like a sore thumb," Anzu remarked from out of the corner of her mouth as they walked toward their room.

Yami no Yugi chuckled, running his hand through his hair. "You're worried about that sticking out?"

Anzu smiled at that, and turned the key in the lock. Reaching to the side, she flipped the switch, displaying a shabby room with a television, dresser, two beds, a chair, and a full-size mirror attached to an adjoining door. A window stood on the opposite wall. A bedside lamp separated the two beds. Cobwebs hung in the corners of the room, wallpaper flaked, and nicotine ringed the bottom of the room. "It's better than I thought we would be getting," she commented in surprise. Walking over to the bed furthest from the door, she flopped face down upon it, and kicked off her shoes. Reaching over, she twisted the switch on the lamp until it flickered on.

Yami no Yugi shut off the room's light, and settled upon the chair. "Go ahead and close your eyes, Anzu. I'll wake you when Mai arrives."

Anzu grunted, and pushed herself onto her elbows. "No, we need to talk." Twisting around, she faced him, bending her knees to sit up. "So, we didn't see Honda and Jonouchi. Now what?"

Yami no Yugi frowned. "If Jonouchi and Honda managed to lay low, they need to make it through the remainder of the night."

"Seems like the only thing to do, then, is to brush up on my skills, since I'll also be on the front lines." Reaching into her pocket, she drew out her deck, and began to splay out her cards, grouping them by strategy. "I learned a few lessons from Yugi and the Black Magician Girl, but I don't think it's enough on its own."

Rising from the chair, Yami no Yugi walked over to stand before her at the bed. "I'll help you restructure it to the best of my ability, but it wouldn't be the same as organically growing your skill level."

Anzu shrugged, the palms of her hands upon her splayed knees, "So what's the worst that could happen to me if I lose? My soul gets taken, fine. I won't be having a crate dropped on my head this time."

Leaning back against the bureau with his hands in his pockets, Yami no Yugi replied in a rather cynical tone, "That would explain your gambling with your own life."

Anzu's eyes gleamed as she raised her head, the orange industrial lights filtering in through the blinds. "And we wouldn't be sharing this room with Mai."

Yami no Yugi winced at that, and Anzu held up a card, flipping it around to show him that it was Shining Friendship. "We're different people, you and I. I understand that. I know that what I did was foolish, and had it been someone else other than Mai, it might not have worked. Even then, I wasn't sure that my words had been enough." She lowered the card, "Turns out they were that time."

"You didn't trust me," he responded simply. Anzu said nothing. He continued, "It's all right. I'd rather hear the truth."

"Could you blame me, after what happened on the train with Haga?" She asked quietly.

His fingers clenched at the inside lining of his pockets, his breath hitching. "You think I would have done that to her, too?" Anzu raised her eyebrows at that.

"Only you can answer that," she replied after a moment's pause, "but you can't blame me for being worried." She hugged her knees to herself. "I don't know you like Yugi does. I try so hard to understand, but even I know it's not the truth." Yami no Yugi started forward at that, and placed his hand gently upon one of hers. She let go of her knee to grasp it. "You've known why all along, haven't you?"

Yami no Yugi nodded his head. The regret was plain to hear in his voice as he replied, "I'm sorry, Anzu."

Her voice was wistful as she recounted, "It's foolish, in retrospect. I put you on this pedestal in my head, my knight in shining armor, so to speak, and it turns out that that was probably just as bad as thinking something awful of you."

Releasing her hand, and taking care to push aside the cards scattered about the bed first, Yami no Yugi sat down before her with an oddly sheepish smile. "Truth be told, I'm flattered," he replied.

"And you've said nothing because…?" She inquired in embarrassment, half-turning her head from him.

Yami no Yugi turned away from her, his hands braced on either side of him upon the top blanket. Their shadows stood stark on the wall that glowed in orange. "Because this isn't my life. It's Yugi's." He smiled. "Why do you think I am all right with him taking the credit for all of our duels?"

"But Pharaoh," she replied gently, "you aren't just a shadow. You're just as alive as Mai and I are."

He turned back to look at her, holding her gaze for a moment. "It's wonderful, isn't it?"

Anzu nodded sympathetically, though he did notice her lip quiver once. She shut her eyes, clearly holding back tears as she responded, "We can't let Dartz take it all away."

"He won't," he responded simply, "I'll stake my life upon it."

"What about Mai?"

He turned away from her, drawing in a heavy breath. "Would you call us broken, Anzu?"

"Only as broken as I am." He turned sharply at that to see Anzu hugging an arm to herself. "At this point, I think we all are a little broken, seeing as what we've gone through. We met under strange circumstances, you and I," she muttered in a tone that sounded more mournful than wistful. She winced. "I had the cold metal of a gun barrel against my temple, and was blindfolded by that creep. I couldn't sleep without a light on for a very long time, and at times," her fist clenched, "It gets to me that my life could've ended, just like that. When it first did, I had to get help." She lowered her head, grasping both sides of her hair, "I felt like I was weak, that I couldn't face my own demons without having to speak to a counselor. People die every day, many for no reason at all. In that moment, with that convict wheezing in my ear, I realized that I wasn't special in that regard." Letting go of her hair, she added, "Sometimes I wonder how fate was twisted that day."

He brushed his hair out of his eyes. "Did it feel like a second chance to you?"

She nodded solemnly. "And you?"

"What's it matter to a death seeker?" He responded with dark humor. When her face fell at that, he explained, his voice cracking as he shook his head, "For once, just once, could I have taken the blow? I held Yugi, lifeless, in my arms against Pegasus. I saw him chained helplessly beside me against Marik. He even had to drag me back to my feet against Noa." He rubbed at the side of his face, turning his head away in shame. Sighing heavily, he recollected himself. "And you see how useless that line of thought has been. I don't care about getting another chance; I've already been given more than enough. I just want for Yugi to be able to live a full life."

Feeling her hand on his shoulder, he turned back to look at her. Anzu smiled sadly. "He's worth fighting for."


	4. Chapter 4

One-sided Illusionshipping and Clashshipping mentioned here. Implied Polarshipping. Rating upgraded to M for language.

While writing the Peachshipping and Regalshipping moments in this chapter, I listened to "The Sun Always Shines on TV" by a-ha.

* * *

"It's not perfect, but it'll have to do," Anzu decided, her eyelids drooping as she brought the cards back into a deck. Catching her yawn in her hand, she commented, "I really need to sleep." Glancing up, she asked, "Do you have the spare key?" He nodded, and held it up to the light. "Good." Pocketing her deck, she curled up, rubbing her back against the surface of the bed to get comfortable. Sighing, she laid her head against the pillow. "I don't think I'll be awake enough to hear you knock when you get back." Yami no Yugi rose, and headed to the door, pulling it quietly shut behind him. Anzu reached up, jimmied the switch on the lamp, and dropped her arm. Squirming under the top cover, she groaned, turning her head away from the window. The sheets faded from her eyes into darkness.

She was walking through the desert at night, flashlight in hand. Her legs and feet ached, and slowed her pace. Lightning crackled in the distance, and thunder rolled, the moon and stars shrouded from her vision. Coyotes howled, and ran off, their cries making her hug herself. A golden glow caught her eye, and she moved slowly toward it, stumbling over rocks and loose dirt, gasping as she regained her footing. Her flashlight's beam swung wildly, and the figure cried out, standing. "Anzu?"

"Yugi?" She stood still in surprise as he rose, and darted over to her. She gasped as the flashlight's beam caught on his face. Yugi's facial flesh had lost its density, sticking close to his bones. His veins stood starkly upon his skin. Placing the flashlight down, she kneaded her thumbs gently over his cheeks. Her breath hitched as they sunk slightly inward. With tears glistening at the corners of her eyes, she asked, "Oh, what are they doing to you?"

Yugi blushed, and grasped her wrists to lower them. "It looks worse than it really is. Others DOMA has held for centuries are worse off."

"Can they be saved," Anzu asked, a shiver running down her spine, "or is it too late?"

Yugi shook his head. "I don't know," he squeezed her hands, "I can feel them." His voice hitched. Anzu withdrew her hands from his, and placed them on his shoulders. He sighed. "Some are just barely alive. Others can't remember who they are. I just feel so helpless."

"Where will they go, without bodies to return to?" She asked, uncertainty in her voice.

"I don't know," he replied. As he frowned, lightning eerily lit the veins on his face. "Remember, that one time when we were kids, we snuck out to the waterway? My mom was adamant against us going. She said we'd break our legs, but we went anyway."

Anzu nodded, kneading his shoulders. "We made those paper boats, and wanted to race them," she grimaced, "There was an open drainage pipe. Something was stuck in it. It was," she squinted as she remembered, "disgusting. There was a clump of something moldy on it."

"And two blue eyes," he added with a shudder, "staring right at us. We never went back."

She brought her arms around him, and drew him to her, burying his head in her chest. She kissed the top of his head a few times. "It was just someone's doll."

She could feel his breath on her chest as he sighed into her. "You can't fool me, Anzu."

She raised his chin, and ran the pad of her thumb over his bottom lip. Staring into his purple eyes, she replied, "No, but it doesn't matter."

"Why?" He asked, cocking his head in surprise, "I can feel it, you're afraid."

"Because you're not real, Yugi." He disintegrated into dust under her thumb. Opening her arms, she allowed the dust to fly away on the wind. Anzu lowered her head, and took a deep breath. Raising it, she stared into the distance as a bolt of lightning struck, bathing her for an instant in bright light, and causing her hair to stand on end. Her fists clenched as thunder rumbled. "How disappointing," she murmured to herself, tasting the crackle of electricity in her mouth. The next bolt of lightning came down, and she threw her head back, crying out as the heat surged through her.

Anzu groaned, cracking open her eyes, and drowsily shoving the sheets off herself, her body covered in sweat. Lying the back of her head against the pillow, she tiredly placed her thumbs to her temples, and squinted up at the ceiling, noting the cracks in the plaster. In the end, she would be on her own. Her arsenal wouldn't be enough, she knew that already. Anzu's fingers clenched on the sheet. But then, it no longer mattered. All souls on Earth were to be taken tomorrow, all that remained was when. For as often as she had offered hers recently, she should have known better. Grinning despite herself, she realized that she didn't quite care for her mortality, and, on that level, better understood Yami no Yugi.

XXXXXX

Propping his arms upon the porch's sill, Yami no Yugi stared out at the motel's brown yard, and the dust-mottled cars parked in the lot. Cars hummed on the highway beyond old homes bearing rusty frames and loose shingles. A loose shutter banged. There was a sense of tension within himself, despite the stillness. He stared down at his hands, which held onto the wooden rail. His feelings for Mai were mixed. While he was relieved that their encounter had not ended in tragedy, she still had cast her lot in with Dartz, though for how long, he wasn't sure. She had taken souls, and although his vigilante mentality was willing to overlook it, as she had called them low-lives, Yugi's teachings disagreed.

He smirked at it, knowing that she had become just like he had once been. It fell as he wondered what exactly Mai had been told about him. His heart sank as he realized that, if Dartz, or one of his horsemen had told her about what he had done during his first few months in Domino City, she would have thought him a similar creature to Marik. He winced at that, but regained his composure. She still contented herself with talking with him. Was it because, perhaps, during her Shadow Game with Marik, he had tried to intervene, that she didn't cast him completely away?

Rocks and loose dirt cracked in the distance, and he turned his head to see a tall, shadowed figure appear from just out of the reach of the motel sign's lights. Stepping into it, and glancing about, the figure revealed herself to be Mai. Yami no Yugi held up his arm, and waved at her. Mai paused, and slowly nodded, trudging up the gravel footpath that led to the porch. He felt some unease as her heeled boots clomped up the porch stairs. While their previous conversation had been neutral in tone, it could go either way. If he was lucky, it could hold the same sobering tone as theirs had in that park back in Domino City, but that felt like a lifetime ago. The victory of that night, in taking home the crown from Battle City, seemed so shallow now. He wondered what Isis would think about him, if she knew what he had done. On the other hand, Mai could be completely dismissive of him, and declare them only allies of circumstance. For the sake of Anzu, Shizuka, and Jonouchi, he hoped that wouldn't be the case. Disappointingly, she could also have nothing to say, wanting to merely sleep, though it was understandable, given the time of night.

Mai groggily rubbed at her eyes, and asked in a low tone, "She's asleep?" Yami no Yugi nodded, and she smiled. "Good, she deserves it."

"It looks like you could use some, as well," he noted quietly.

Mai laid her palm against one of the porch's supporting poles to steady herself. "I'm not quite gone yet." Standing up straight, and letting go of the pole, she continued, "We didn't finish our conversation."

He nodded his head. "All right, then who will answer the question first?"

"You were wounded," she replied pointedly, "You still are, and more so now." She shook her head. "It's like watching a stag struggling back to his feet after the hunter has shot it."

"Ouch," he commented, "Well, I hope you don't pity him."

She shrugged. "In a way, it's sad to watch."

"Oh?" Folding his arms over the wooden railing, he leaned forward. "So, what does that make your win against me, a wounded stag?"

"A wounded stag that still has fight left in him," she corrected, "You wouldn't have been worth my time otherwise." Her eyes narrowed, and she studied him carefully. "Yes, I still see it in you now."

"You know why that is," he replied plainly, his gaze hardening, "Mai, tell me, if you couldn't bring yourself to take Anzu's soul, then how do you feel, knowing that Yugi is suffering because of DOMA?"

She blinked rapidly, and shook her head. "Rafael took his soul painlessly. It was the better option."

Yami no Yugi stood to his full height. "That isn't the full truth, and you know that better than me. Mai, you can't blind yourself to the fact that his soul, among many others, is being used as a battery by the Leviathan." His fist clenched at his side. "Dartz is torturing him by draining his lifeforce, and, as you said, holding him in darkness. He can't even die!" His voice cracked, and he scrubbed at the corner of his eye with his thumb. "Is the suffering of an innocent worth DOMA's goal to you? Especially after you, by name, listed him as one of the people who deserves a better world than this one?" Mai was silent as he continued, "That is how I know that you are wounded, Mai. Your back is against the wall, and the only option you feel you have left is to fight back, regardless of who or what you'll be throwing away."

"Like you threw Yugi away," she pointed out. He nodded gravely. She turned to stare out at the cars. "Well, at least I got my answer. I suppose I should be happy. You can't kill me; you lost the advantage of concealing your wound. But then, you let me see you bleeding, that night after Battle City. It's the same story between us, only the wounds are deeper now." Placing one hand to either plank, she leaned forward. "I still catch glimpses of him in my dreams, beckoning me back to that nightmare, and to him. It's faint now, but it's still there. You know," she looked over her shoulder at him, "I stood in the shower for half an hour, after taking you back to the Game Shop. But how can you scrub away a fingerprint on your very mind? How can you wash away a fondling of your very soul?"

He felt pain at her utterly tired expression, the bags under her eyes, the slack of her jaw, and the sweat glistening upon her skin, and his speech was gravelly. "You can't."

She sighed. "I was hoping you would give me a second opinion."

"I can't when I've also endured his perversions to an extent," he replied sincerely, "Marik viewed each target as something beautiful, from which he could strip each piece away to play with as he pleased. The Shadow Game took its toll on me. You could see how tired I was in your car, that night when we returned." Sighing, he continued. "In his own twisted way, he loved us."

Mai turned her head sharply at that. "No," her voice caught, "I don't want to hear it!" Her palms tapped the support beams. Breathing heavily, she shook her head. "That wasn't love; he wanted to kill you!" Her hands dropped from the planks, and she backed up a step from him, splaying out her legs, "He dragged me into the darkness, and he would have taken you, too, had he been given his way." Her expression hardened. "I should have known. You think you're so different from what Marik was, but you're a similar creature to him."

Yami no Yugi winced at that, but he held his poise. "Maybe so," he replied quietly, folding his hands, "But you keep having these pleasant conversations with me of your own volition. What does that tell you?"

"That I'm a damn fool," she replied with a smirk. It slipped when she continued, "I saw you in the darkness. You were walking away from me. You'd forgotten me." His fist clenched at that, drawing her eye. "But then, for a moment of clarity, I saw you. You looked horrified, and you were staring right at me. You all were."

He lowered his head, and released his fist. Raising his hand, he pressed it to his chest. "And for that moment, could you believe, that I nearly fell?" At her silence, he continued, "You say I am of the same lifeform as Marik, and perhaps you were right."

"What threat would you have thrown this time? A banishment to the darkness, from whence he came?" She asked, waxing mock poetic.

He shook his head. "I wanted to pull you from that hourglass, even if it meant that I would leave Yugi undefended, and I would likely lose myself. I was willing to give everything, even the promise of eternal rest, for you to be freed. But it didn't matter." He brought his hand upon the sill. "After you vanished back into the shadows, I had wanted him to suffer, for all that he had brought upon us. Physically, mentally, it didn't matter. Just to see him squirm for once, it would have been satisfying." Mai stepped her legs together, and he lowered his head. "That's my ugliness. Even all this time, after Yugi had initially released me, I was ready to slip back. I," his voice died in his throat, and he cleared it, "I have slipped."

Cars echoed over the highway in the distance. Something clanged heavily in a back alley, followed by the thumping of running feet. "Why me?" She asked.

"Why not?" He returned, leaning upon the sill with a pained expression. Mai's eyebrows slowly rose at that, and her lips parted. Yami no Yugi's face burned with shame.

"No," she replied quietly, "No, don't do this to me right now." She closed her eyes, her voice beginning to strain. "Don't say it." He dropped his head to his hand, his wrist braced upon the sill, and slowly rubbed the sweat from his face. Her boots clacked over to him, and he felt her grasp his hand to lower it. "Don't you fucking say it!" She growled. For a moment, he wanted to bury his head in his sleeve, and not look. Taking a breath to steel himself, he stared up at her.

For a moment, he thought that his perception of time had failed. Mai's frosty demeanor had fallen, and she looked at him with a soft expression. "Yugi was afraid of you, when you nearly killed Kaiba," she remarked. He nearly cringed at that, but he let it go. "But look at you." She drew her thumb at the edge of his lip, stroking it gently. He blushed at the contact. He raised his hand to grasp her hand. Mai released her grip on the side of his face, and turned her hand about his, grasping it at the wrist. "You're just a man, trying to live with his regrets."

"Have I disappointed you, then?" He whispered. She smiled wryly for a moment. Before he could react, she leaned forward, and grasped him by the collar of his jacket. His cry of surprise was muffled by her lips as she kissed him. His knees gave, and she dropped her hand to his waist to keep him upright. Grasping blindly, he seized her by the shoulders, and dragged himself up. Drawing out, he breathed heavily, his nails scraping over her back, his head buried in her bosom. Mai shuddered as his breaths ghosted over her breasts. "Holy shit, Pharaoh," she whispered.

Her gloved hand caught his cheek, and tilted his head to the side. She looked so tired, he thought, as she nodded at something, and drew him back in, her mouth moving along his neck. "We shouldn't…" He muttered, his voice trailing off, and his fragments of thoughts exploding like a pop gun, as he felt her teeth kneading along his collar. "Someone will see."

She chuckled against the side of his neck, causing him to shiver at the warmth of it. "Don't worry, babe. I have eyes."

He tightly wrapped his arms about her back, causing her to suck in a breath as his fingers kneaded at her back. "Look sharp, then," he whispered in response.

"Done this before?" She joked.

"Making it up as I go, actually," he replied genuinely, running his finger up her back, and causing her to arch up, "Or was my collapsing to my knees not a giveaway?" Mai sucked on his earlobe, drawing a groan from him. Sliding her tongue into his ear caused him to let go, and stifle his cry by biting his finger. Mai buried her mouth in his neck, and held her lips shut to muffle her giggles. Yami no Yugi felt embarrassed for a moment, only to bury his face in her chest, and begin laughing, as well. Mai backed up against the wooden railing, and slid down to sit upon the floor. Yami no Yugi raised himself up on the palms of his hands, and smiled down at her. Cupping his chin in her hand, she kissed him softly. She lowered her hand from his chin, and leaned back against the wood. Sitting down beside her, he sighed. Mai's gloved fingers ghosted over his, and he linked his through hers.

Leaning her head against his, she chuckled, and commented, "It comes with practice."

He closed his eyes, and smiled. It slowly slipped off, however, and he squeezed her hand. "Mai?"

She smiled bitterly. "I told you not to say it, didn't I?"

He pressed his lips gently to her hair. "It was probably for the best."

Mai tilted her head slightly sideways to look up at him. "You couldn't hide that."

"You kept prompting me," he replied, shifting as a car rolled down the road beyond the motel, "Why?"

Mai shifted, as well, allowing herself to sit up, her one knee bent, and her arm draped over it. "That should be obvious to you now." At his intake of breath, she continued, "We've both proved ourselves to be cruel and callous over time, no matter how we rationalized it. You considered yourself to be a man of honor, and I thought myself above petty power seekers. And yet," her purple eye flashed as she turned toward him, "we've handed ourselves over for others before. Why is that?" Her hand tightened on his again. "You don't have to answer." After a few moments, she asked, "Would you have punished me for what I've done, had it been in the past?"

He stared quietly at her before answering, "Yes." Mai took a heavy breath, and nodded her head. Cupping his jaw with both hands, she lowered herself toward him, her cheek brushing against his. Burying her head in the crook of his neck, she dropped her hands, drawing one up his back, and the other up his chest. "You know that you would have had to take my soul, for this plan to be complete," he noted.

His jacket rustled as she ran her hands over it. "I told myself that you had wanted to rest, which is true. But you wouldn't have wanted to die like that. Yet, I didn't think of it, choosing instead to focus upon how powerful I had become." Her hand on his chest tightened, clutching at the fabric of the school uniform jacket. "When Dartz told me about what you had been, it was easier to see you as a mark. In some ways, I did want to make you suffer. Even though you came for me, it haunted me in my sleep, watching that image of you turning your back on me, and walking away during Marik's Penalty Game."

"Even if it wasn't real?" He asked quietly.

Her fist struck him once, not enough to hurt, but to make a point. "In my mind, it was real. My decision had been made, and it felt like there was no backing out of it. I'm not proud of it, but my thought process was skewed that far. So yes, I would even have brought you down. Who do you think would have been next, that day, had Jonouchi lost to me?" She raised her head, and narrowed her eyes at him.

"What made Anzu so different?"

"Anzu wasn't a challenge for me. She and Honda, once again, were in the wrong place at the wrong time that day. It wouldn't have been fair." Letting go of him, she rubbed the back of her gloved hand against the side of her head. "It's my own bias that kept me from taking her soul. While I stand by my claim that several souls I had taken were ones you also would have punished, I also have to admit that not all of them deserved it." She dropped her hand with a heavy sigh. "In a way, I became a murderer, but it didn't matter. I would have given anything, just to have my life back." Flicking her eyes up at him, she continued, "You admitted to me that you had lost your mind for years. I lost mine for a few days. Tell me, how stable are you?"

He gave a short laugh. "This isn't the best time to be asking me that question."

Mai, however, didn't return the humor. "Was it having Yugi that kept you sane? Or was it something else?"

"Had it not been for Yugi, I wouldn't have become sane. You know this already," he reminded her, reaching out to run his fingers through the strands of hair that had fallen over her shoulder, "But, as for how much I rely upon him to keep my sanity, it's apparent to me now that it was more than I thought."

She caught his hand, and squeezed his fingers. "Hard to deal with it on your own, isn't it?"

He leaned his head against the wooden poles supporting the sill, the lights from the motel's sign tracing vertically over his face through them, and sighed. "But you wouldn't tell anyone," he replied simply.

"Neither would you," she replied, folding her arms and glancing down in frustration, "We both don't want to burden others with how we feel. We've had to learn that the hard way. Mom and Dad quit running when I cried years ago, and no one heard your call over thousands of years. Funny, isn't it," grasping the sill, she pulled herself up, "I focus on myself, and I end up yanking the world down with me."

Grasping the sill, as well, he stood. "Then, what will you do tomorrow?'

"There are a few debts I have to settle. You do, as well." She stared out over the sloped roofs of the homes as she continued, dust falling from the sill as she tapped on it. "However, I'm not sure that I'll make it out of this one." She turned her head back to see his nostrils flaring. "You only fought Dartz's horseman, and he had backed you into a corner. Even your Puzzle can't protect you this time. If I do shut my eyes for good, I'd want that last image I see to be of you on your feet."

He gasped, taken aback. Collecting himself, he replied, "We haven't lost yet. Why would you accept that now, when the thought of losing caused you such agony?"

"Because that's how much of a threat Dartz is," she answered plainly, "I was able to go toe to toe with Marik, even though I lost. Dartz is in a league of his own. Turning on him, however, is the very least I can do. He wants you more than anyone. I'll keep him from getting his hands on you. After that, I can't promise anything. I'm sorry."

For a moment, he felt anger build within him at her, but he let it go. Perhaps she and Anzu did have a point, about his being sanctimonious. "Saying that to me doesn't change anything. I'm not fit to judge you."

"You think you're a moral person?" She asked.

"Correction," he thumped the side of his hand upon the sill for emphasis, "I'm a dead man." The flatness of his tone caused Mai's eye to twitch. "I'd like to think that I am moral, but frankly, I am trying to be, rather than am. I suppose, in retrospect, that makes it worse, considering how I had judged others, but I can't take that back. When my time comes, whether that's tomorrow, or one year from now, I'll have to see whether that was enough."

Mai's expression softened. "Death doesn't bring you any insight, does it?" He gravely shook his head. Mai gave a grin that unnerved him, as it appeared pained. "Mister Perfect." It slowly fell away, and she rubbed at her eyes. "We just have to get through one day. Sounds so easy like that. It's nice to think that things won't go sideways, and it's all we have to latch onto." His fists clenched in frustration. She shrugged at that. "Wanna shake hands and part ways? Come on, you're not a child. Speak up!"

He released them. "Please, come with me." Mai tilted her head at that, and he explained, "I want to rest."

Mai scowled at that. "I just told you, I don't want to watch you die."

He waved his arm sharply. "If things were different, I wouldn't ask you. Wishing they were won't change anything."

"You're a selfish son of a bitch, you know that?" Mai growled, "You come in and screw up everyone's lives, and then you invite whomever you please to your going away party. I'd say you're just as bad as my ex, in that regard, but you're honestly worse, since you're so genuine about it." He remained silent, and she dropped the aggression from her tone, "But if I didn't watch you go, I'd regret it for the rest of my life." She shut her eyes, and took a deep breath. "I don't know if we'll see each other again, or not. I know better than to hold out the hope, but I don't want to forget you." She smiled wryly. "Even Marik didn't take you from me in that duel."

Yami no Yugi moved her, and grasped one of her hands between his. Mai yanked it loose, and brought both arms around him. He gasped for a moment at how tightly she hugged him. Her head buried in his shoulder, in anguish she hissed ugly things at him, ranging from insults about how stiff he was, to how selfish, and finally lapsing into vulgarities. His head in her chest, he shut his eyes, and took it all. Mai slowly drew out, and he handed the key to her to let herself into the motel room. Pressing it back in his palm, she instructed, "Wake us at dawn. We're got ground to cover." The door shut behind her.

Pocketing the key, he turned back to stare out at the desolate town before him. The headlights of the passing cars illuminated a figure pacing slowly along the side of the road in the distance. Focusing his vision upon it, he followed it curiously from his vantage point. The figure was short, and tended to stop, and stoop down, half-bending over and sticking its rear end out when cars drove slowly past. A streetlight glanced off the figure's head, displaying the swoop of a ponytail. Long, bare legs stuck out to the side. For a moment, he figured that it was probably another hitchhiker, but he didn't see a backpack. A car pulled off to the side of the road, and the figure leaned toward the passenger's side window. When the figure reached an arm toward itself, and appeared to fumble with its chest, he turned his head away.

Stones crunched further down the road, and the streetlights caught the image of a female bicyclist, head low, raising up on the bike, and feathering the pedal before veering off. The rider jumped off the bike, and threw off her helmet. She kicked the bike sideways, knocking it behind a trash can, its lid open. She crouched behind it, and slid out of view.

Something crashed and broke in a distant alley, and a tomcat yowled. Shadows writhed against the alley's side wall, the slight horizontal angle of it indicating that the figures were slightly around the side. Whimpering was heard, followed by something else, this time sounding like glass, breaking. "Hey, look, it's the Toothless Wonder! Do it again, do it again!" Raucous laughter sounded, and Yami no Yugi felt his blood boil. A car alarm blared, and a police siren sounded in the distance.

A porch light clicked on, and a screen door banged open. A youth, roughly led by the arm by a large man, was literally thrown out of the doorway, landing upon the hard dirt. A window was thrown open, and a middle-aged woman threw articles of clothing, and breakables out of the second story window. "Not our problem anymore!" She snapped, slamming the window shut. Yami no Yugi clutched so hard at the sill that he felt splinters driving into his palms.

"Go back and live with your meth head mother, you ungrateful little turd!" Spitting on the youth, and the man stomped back into the house, slamming the screen door shut. The porch light shut off. The youth slowly dragged himself to his elbows and stared about, disoriented. Rising like a wraith from behind the trash can, the bicyclist waved to him to get his attention. Nodding groggily, the boy grabbed a few loose articles of clothing off the ground, and shuffled away from the lawn. The girl pointed in a few directions, and began to lead the way, the boy following behind. Pausing once, he stared at the house, his shoulders slumping. He turned back, and walked away.

Yami no Yugi let go of the sill, waving his hands out from the pain. "Is this the world you want?" Mai hadn't been completely lucid when she had asked that question, but nonetheless it returned to him. But, as he thought more carefully about it, he realized that the concept of him judging it was wrong. This world was one that he did not know, having been away from it for too long. Dartz, on the other hand, had lived to an old age. But then, Dartz didn't have his place in this world to judge, either, given his own crimes.

Boots thumped on the wooden floorboards past Yami no Yugi, and a sigh sounded as a mountain of a man settled himself back against the motel's side wall. He paid him little attention, but took care to lean slightly to the side, keeping the figure in his peripheral vision. The man swore, and craned his neck. "Hey pal, got a light?" He shook his head, and the man muttered, "Figures. Hey, is that hair real?" Yami no Yugi nodded, and considered returning to his post in the room, his train of thought broken. "You know how to talk?" The man challenged, his speech slurring.

Letting go of the wooden rail with one hand, he turned to look at him, clad in a faded shirt, jeans with holes, and heavy work boots. "Yes. If you don't mind, I'll be going inside."

The man blinked at him. "You ain't from around here, are ya?"

Yami no Yugi realized that his accent had bled through, and he replied, "No, just passing through."

The man frowned. "Christ, you're just a kid, too. Your parents have to be worried about you," tugging subconsciously at a loose piece of denim thread on his jeans, he added, "Kid, if you knew what was right for you, you'd go home. A runaway, right? Going to try to make it big in Hollywood?"

Yami no Yugi felt uncomfortable by the conversation, and the man's probing questions. There seemed to be a hint of sadness behind it, though. He humored him by shaking his head. "Good, you're smart, then. Too many kids, even these days when they should know better, still go anyway, and wind up stuck in places like this." He was wondering just how much the man was going to remember of this one-sided conversation the following day. "You don't want to know what they do to kids like you. You think you're so tough, but then you'll realize that the world's much bigger, and much tougher than you. It'll crush you down to size, and no one'll care. Take it from a guy who knows."

Clearing his throat, Yami no Yugi stepped back toward the door, replying, "I'll keep it in mind."

"Yeah, you do that," the man muttered in what sounded like disappointment as the door closed.

Mai shifted in her sleep with a yawn as the door clicked back into place. Raising her arm from where it lay over her brow, she inquired tiredly, "Yami no Yugi? Was that you talking?"

He nodded his head, and lowered himself back down onto the chair. "It's not time yet, Mai. Go back to sleep."

Her hand dropped to cover one eye. "Who was that you were talking to? Walls're thin as paper here."

He shrugged. "Someone who thought I needed direction."

Mai smirked. "Boy, I know how to pick the place, don't I?"

Yami no Yugi returned it. "Go back to sleep, Mai. I'll be here in the morning."

She slowly turned over, closing her eyes.

XXXXXX

He tugged the cord on the blinds, allowing for the gray light of dawn to enter the room. "Ladies, it's time." Anzu groaned, and rolled over onto her stomach, dragging the pillow over her head, mumbling something about five more minutes.

Something flew through the air to smack softly off the side wall, and fall to the floor. Crouching down, Yami no Yugi picked it up, and saw that it was a wad of currency. "I'm not going anywhere without coffee," Mai muttered groggily, "There's a place a couple of doors down."

"Then you'd best ready to leave when I return," Yami no Yugi replied sharply, a little miffed at Mai's attitude. On the other hand, it did sound more like how she used to be, especially in Duelist Kingdom.

Mai yawned, and placed her hands behind her head. "You can't rush perfection, Pharaoh."

"Perfection had better include a hairbrush," Anzu muttered in annoyance, shooting a glance over at Mai.

She shrugged. "This is why you make sure you bring everything, but I think I can spare you one."

Growing bored with their conversation, he left the room. The motel's exterior appeared drabber in the gray morning light, allowing him to note the faded colors of the wood, and the cracks in stallion's red paint. The dwellings appeared to sag, some of them sporting over turned crash cans and busted plastic arm chairs. Pedestrians were sparse.

The words, Green Bean, with the illustration of a green coffee bean greeted him from a low-to-the-ground sandstone structure. A few workmen, clad in fluorescent yellow vests, and some bearing goggles on their heads and around their necks, sat in a loose circle around cups of coffee. The circle tightened upon his entrance, with a few side eyes thrown his way. Ignoring them, he gave his order to a much-aged barista. Leaning his elbow upon the counter, he listened to the radio positioned on the shelf slightly to the side. "Authorities were stunned at the destruction of Crooked Arrow's square. Casualties and the cause of the destruction, as of yet, have been unreported."

The woman sighed as she handed the two foam cups over to him. "Terrible, isn't it?" Taking care to keep his mouth shut, he nodded his head. "You be careful out there, son." The woman's face fell as he stepped away from the counter, and he reached into his pocket to place a few bills before her. Taking them with a cheery smile, she said no more.

He was in the middle of opening the front door with his foot when one of the workmen asked, "Kid, have I seen you somewhere before?" Raising his eyebrow, Yami no Yugi kept his cool despite his pulse beginning to rise.

"Joe, let the kid leave. He's not hurting anything," one of the workmen gruffly responded, "We don't want any trouble." As the first workman turned to argue with the second, Yami no Yugi took it as his cue to leave. Striding briskly away from the coffee shop, he decided it would be best for the three to leave immediately.

Anzu's frantic voice greeted him as he opened the door to the motel room. "Jonouchi, Jonouchi, slow down, I can barely understand what you're saying!" She was hunched over the edge of her bed, her cell phone pressed to her ear. Her head was bowed too low for him to determine what expression she was wearing. Mai, a worried expression on her face, took a coffee cup from him. Placing the remaining cup on the chair, he knelt d beside Anzu, who glanced to the side at his presence, her eyes narrowed in concentration. Nodding her head, she set the phone on speaker.

Jonouchi's voice crackled over the phone. His voice shook. "I-I just can't believe it! Half of that town is leveled because of me!"

Yami no Yugi's eyes widened, and Anzu passed the phone to him. "Jonouchi, what happened?" He asked, "Where are you?" Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed Mai holding the cup tightly between her hands. Coffee began to run down the sides as her fingers squeezed it.

Static crackled over the phone, and Honda exclaimed, "Get it together, man! It's not your fault!"

"Oh, that's easy for you to say!" Jonouchi exclaimed in exasperation. Honda's voice grew quieter, though Anzu and Yami no Yugi could hear him swearing.

Jonouchi sighed heavily. "We got surrounded by these giants that were carrying duel disks similar to the ones that Varon and Rafael had. It's all my fault. They were terrorizing people in this town, even dragging them away when they tried to run. We tried to stop them, but it wasn't any use. One of them was carrying Honda off to take his soul. I thought I'd use Hermos to help him, and it worked a little too well. I took out all of the giants, but…I…." He swallowed hard. "I lost control. I took out a few of the buildings, and several of the bodies of the people whose souls were taken."

Something fell, cracked, and splattered. Mai's gasp was muffled in her hand. Yami no Yugi snapped his head up, and saw her slumping against the wall, her legs red from the hot coffee splattering them. "Jonouchi, it wasn't your fault, you didn't know!" Anzu exclaimed, her voice cracking, "It was an accident!"

Mai shook her head at Yami no Yugi turned back to look at the phone. Taking a heavy breath, he added, "Anzu's right, Jonouchi. Just tell us where you are."

"Will the two of you shut up for once?!" He cried out an agonized tone of voice, "Those people are dead because of me!"

Mai stomped over, and snatched Anzu's phone sharply out of her hand, causing her to cry out in surprise. "Then listen to me, you numbskull! If you don't hide, you will end up in a state prison, if not worse!" At the dead silence on the other side of the line, she continued, "Quit sitting on the ground, sniveling! You can cry about it later!"

"Give Anzu back her phone, Mai," Jonouchi growled, "Now."

She held out the phone, and Anzu snatched it back. "We'll catch up with you and Honda soon. Just find somewhere to hide. We can talk later. Where are you now?"

"Crooked Arrow," Yami no Yugi commented, causing Anzu and Mai to turn their heads, "That's it, isn't it?"

"That's what the sign said, but we're past that now. We got lucky yesterday, and hitched a ride at a truck stop, but the driver left us at Crooked Arrow. Honda was able to get one of the motorcycles to work."

"For a while!" Honda yelled in frustration from in the distance. Something clanged. "Spark plug on this old dinosaur's dirty, so we won't be going anywhere!"

"We dragged the bike into an old shed. If Honda can't do anything, we'll have to leave it, and walk," Jonouchi groaned, "My legs are killing me. The giants came in the middle of the night, so we haven't gotten much sleep. Much as I want to, I'm afraid of the owner coming back."

Something thumped. "Just need to rest. I'll give it another shot," Honda groaned heavily.

"Although Honda deserves some rest," Jonouchi commented, his tone indicating that he was smiling, "He's been driving for hours."

"All right, we'll come get you," Anzu promised, "If you're going to move, text me."

"Will do. Can't see how this day can get any shittier," he grumbled.

Yami no Yugi met Anzu's eyes, and he replied, "We'll be there soon."

"Good. Oh, and Mai? We need to have a few words," Jonouchi said, his tone having an undercurrent of ice.

"Fine, but we don't have much time," she replied simply.

Anzu hung up, and stared between the two. Holding up a hand, she began, "I don't want to talk about it," rising she continued, "I just want to find Jonouchi and Honda."

Yami no Yugi nodded. "We'd best be off. I think I was recognized in the coffee shop."

Anzu held out a hand. "Keys, please." Yami no Yugi and Mai dropped them into her hand, and, grabbing her coffee cup, she strode out of the room.

Mai smiled wryly at him. "I shouldn't have sent you out there."

He shrugged. "You hadn't eaten or drank anything, and I was more alert."

"Looks like I'll have to face him, as well," Mai muttered wistfully. Folding her arms, she looked away from him. "Can't say I'm looking forward to it, but at least it will be short."

Yami no Yugi sat upon Anzu's bed. "Mai, Jonouchi is worried about you. Nothing more, nothing less."

She smiled, and looked half-ready to laugh at him. Her expression turned his stomach. "You make it sound so easy."

Deciding against mentioning that Jonouchi had hit him, he inquired, "You have to pay your debts to him as well, don't you?"

"What do you think?" She responded.

He didn't dare look into her eyes. Staring down at his folded hands, he felt his heart sinking. Releasing his hands, he reached out, and placed his hand upon her knee. Mai reached out her gloved hand, and grasped his, slowly lifting off her knee to turn over, and stroke his palm with her thumb. "I…." He paused, and drawing a breath, continued, "I want more time."

"Just because you want it, doesn't mean you'll get it," she replied solemnly. She raised the hand that held his between them. "Stay with me. Just for one day more, stay with me."

Glancing up, he saw the lack of sureness in her eyes. There was, however, a faint spark within them, a mere shadow of what he saw in them the night that Seto Kaiba announced when Battle City was to begin. He bowed his head to their joined hands. Placing his forehead to them, he shut his eyes, and breathed in their mingled scents, his of sweat, dirt, and citrus, and hers of oil, perfume, and coffee. Raising his head, he replied, his tone heavy, "For as long as I can. But then, I can't promise anything. I'm sorry." Mai's expression slowly twisted into disappointment at her own words being thrown back at her. Releasing her hand, he found, much to his own regret, that he was at a loss for consoling platitudes to offer.

* * *

"'Pale horse, pale rider, done taken my lover away.'" - excerpt from _Pale Horse, Pale Rider_ by Katherine Anne Porter, published 1939.


End file.
